Exclusive: PM expected to confirm boost in military spending to at least 2.5% of GDP by 2027. Keir Starmer is planning drastic cuts to Britain’s international aid budget to help pay for a boost to defence spending, the Guardian has been told, as European nations attempt to fill the gap left by Donald Trump on Ukraine.
The prime minister is expected to confirm the UK government’s timeline to increase defence spending to at least 2.5% of GDP by 2030 as he prepares for what will inevitably be a diplomatically fraught visit to Washington DC. However, he will come under continued pressure to rapidly lift defence spending even further, after he pledged that the UK would “play its full part” in deploying troops to Ukraine for a peacekeeping force in the event of a durable deal after Russia’s invasion.
Defence sources have said that an increase to 2.5%, from 2.3% now, would still be far short of what is required to rebuild and transform the armed forces, stressing that an ultimate hike to at least 3% of national income would be necessary. Sources told the Guardian that Starmer had chosen to reduce the aid budget, perhaps by as much as half, in order to help boost military capability after the new US administration said it was withdrawing its own support from Ukraine.
Labour had promised to raise the aid budget from 0.5% to 0.7% when “fiscal conditions allow”, but in recent weeks officials have begun to look at cutting it instead as a way to help pay for the planned increase in defence spending. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, told the Guardian earlier this month that Donald Trump’s plans to make dramatic cuts to the US’s international aid budget could be a “big strategic mistake” that allows China to step in and further its global influence.
Simon McDonald, the former head of the Foreign Office, has warned such a move would damage Britain’s global reputation if Reeves chose to reduce aid, as she looks for savings across Whitehall in this year’s spending review. Peter Mandelson, the UK’s ambassador to the US, has been urging Starmer to set a firm timeline for when the UK will increase its defence spending from 2.3% of GDP ahead of his trip to Washington this week.
