Starmer says UK defence spending will rise to 2.5% of GDP

(Sharecast News) - Britain's international aid budget is being slashed to fund an increase in defence spending to 2.5% of GDP from 2027, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Starmer said the government would start the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war but warned that this would involve "difficult choices".

The aid budget will be cut to 0.3% of GDP from 0.5%, Starmer said, meaning defence will get an extra £13.4bn every year from 2027.

"I want to be clear to the house that is not an announcement I am happy to make. I am proud of our record on overseas development, and we will continue to play a key humanitarian role in Sudan, in Ukraine and in Gaza, tackling climate change, supporting multi-national efforts on global health and challenges like vaccination," he told MPs.

"Nonetheless, it remains a cut, and I will not pretend otherwise. We will do everything we can to return to a world where that is not the case and rebuild a capability on development. But at times like this, the defence and security of the British people must always come first."

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com