Starmer ‘agrees with Trump’ after announcing biggest military boost since Cold War

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. Sir Keir Starmer has denied that Donald Trump is dictating UK foreign policy after announcing a huge boost in defence spending.

During a press conference at Downing Street, the prime minister announced he was slashing the aid budget in order to provide a 2.5% increase to the UK’s defence spending, just days after Trump told Europe to be less reliant on the US for support. Starmer said he had been ‘arguing for some time’ that Europe and the UK ‘needed to do more’ for collective defence and security in order to stand up to ‘tyrants’ like Vladimir Putin.

But his decision to boost the UK’s military spending at the expense of its aid budget has drawn fierce criticism from anti-poverty charities, who say the move will have ‘devastating consequences’ on the poorest people in society. The change in approach from the UK comes ahead of the Prime Minister’s trip to Washington for talks with Mr Trump, who has repeatedly called for European nations to up their defence spending.

When asked what he might say to people who assume the US President is setting UK policy, Starmer said: ‘Yes, it’s true President Trump thinks we should do more, and I agree with him. ‘It chimes with my thinking on this. And by more, I mean more capability, I mean more coordination, and I mean more spending.

‘And we have to learn the lessons of the conflict, particularly when it comes to capability and coordination.’. He added: ‘That is the first duty that I have as Prime Minister. It is my duty, my responsibility, and that is why I have taken this decision today.’.

Starmer will hope the spending boost, which he said will mean an extra £13.4 billion for defence every year from 2027, will placate Donald Trump, despite admitting the move was ‘extremely difficult’ and will result in ‘painful choices’ domestically.

The prime minister told MPs the plan amounts to ‘the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War’, and that it ‘is not a decision I wanted to make’ but it was ‘necessary for the protection of our country’. ‘It is important that I am clear that we will continue our support in areas such as Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, of course. That’s the context in which we’ve made this decision,’ he told the conference.

He later added: ‘There is no driver of migration and poverty like conflict. That is why ensuring that by taking strong action now to deter tyrants like Putin we have to take decisions we’ve made today. ‘Not a decision I wanted to take, a decision that was necessary for the protection of our country.

‘And the very people who are most vulnerable are those that would be hit hardest if there was conflict. And that is why today I’ve taken necessary steps to avoid conflict.’. Following the changes, UK spending on defence will rise from its current 2.3% share of the economy to 2.5% in 2027.

The increase will see the UK rise to become the third biggest European contributor to NATO’s defence budget after Poland and Estonia, but will still fall considerably short of the 3.4% the US spends on defence. Starmer said the move would be the start of a ‘new alliance’ with Europe, five years on from Brexit, adding that now was the time to ‘deepen’ the UK’s commitment to European defence and security.

UN agency UNICEF said it was ‘deeply concerned’ by the move, Sky News reports, while UK charity WaterAid said reducing the aid budget was a ‘cruel betrayal’ of people in poverty. Hannah Bond, co-CEO of ActionAid UK, said: ‘We are profoundly shocked and disappointed that the government has made (this) reckless decision’.

‘There is no justification for abandoning the world’s most marginalised time and time again to navigate geopolitical developments. This is a political choice – one with devastating consequences.’. Former Green MP Caroline Lucas said the decision was ‘utterly shameful – a sickening betrayal of some of the poorest people.’.

Meanwhile, Save the Children UK similarly said it is ‘stunned’ by the move and labelled it ‘a betrayal of the world’s most vulnerable children and the UK’s national interest’. Chief executive Mozzam Malik described the change as ‘jeopardising the UK’s partnership with countries across the world’ and said it will ‘have direct consequences for children and families in the UK as well as around the world’.

He added: ‘Earlier this week, the Prime Minister promised to “stand with Ukraine”. Now he’s serving notice on the support needed by the country’s children, who have been forced from their homes, seen their schools bombed and lived in fear for three years.’.