Britain will raise defense spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2027 and will slash its international aid budget to fund the increase, its prime minister announced on Tuesday, saying that Europe is in a new era of insecurity.
The announcement amounts to the "biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War" and is necessary because "tyrants like (Russian President Vladimir) Putin only respond to strength," Keir Starmer told Parliament.
"We must go further still. I have long argued that ... all European allies must step up and do more for our own defense," he said, signaling Britain would set a target for spending 3% of GDP in the next parliament, which will convene after a national election due in 2029.
European countries are scrambling to bolster their collective defense as U.S. President Donald Trump transforms American foreign policy, seemingly sidelining Europe as he looks to quickly end the war in Ukraine.
The shift in Britain's defense strategy comes before Starmer flies to the United States to meet Trump on Thursday, who has repeatedly called for NATO members like Britain to spend more on defense.
European leaders were stunned earlier this month when Trump's administration made clear that Europe would need to step up to provide its own security, sparking a bout of diplomatic activity.
Trump has demanded that NATO allies more than double their defense spending targets to 5% of economic output.
Starmer said that difficult choices needed to be made in the interest of the country's security and he would fund the increased spending on the military by cutting the aid budget from 0.5% of GDP to 0.3% in 2027.
The U.K. currently spends 2.3% of GDP on defense, and the government had previously set a 2.5% target without setting a date.
"The nature of warfare has changed significantly. That is clear from the battlefield in Ukraine, and so we must modernize and reform our capabilities as we invest," Starmer said.
"This investment means that the U.K. will strengthen its position as a leader in NATO and in the collective defense of our continent, and we should welcome that role."
Starmer told lawmakers that the increase amounts to an additional 13.4 billion pounds ($17 billion) a year. Britain's Defense Ministry said it spent 53.9 billion pounds in the 2023/24 financial year.
Starmer said the goal is for defense spending to rise to 3% of GDP by 2035. Britain last spent that much in 1993/94.
Britain last cut its aid budget in November 2020, during the economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing the level to 0.5% of GDP from 0.7% previously.
Successive British governments reduced spending on defense since World War II and the Cold War, as they stepped up investment in health, welfare, and education instead.
Starmer has offered to send British troops to Ukraine as part of a force to safeguard a cease-fire, but says an American "backstop" will be needed to ensure a lasting peace. Trump hasn't committed to providing security guarantees for Ukraine.
"We must stand by Ukraine, because if we do not achieve a lasting peace, then the economic instability and threats to our security, they will only grow," Starmer said.
"And so as the nature of that conflict changes, as it has in recent weeks, it brings our response into sharper focus, a new era that we must meet as we have so often in the past, together, and with strength."
