Keir Starmer set for tough questions over defence spending as Estonia suggests ‘security tax’
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Just hours before the start of a key European defence summit, Estonia’s defence minister issued a stark warning that spending 2 per cent of GDP of defence is simply not enough. Sir Keir Starmer is set to face tough questions over the UK’s defence spending as the prime minister gears up to meet with European allies at a major defence summit.
![[Hanno Pevkur speaks about European security ahead of the JEF summit in Tallinn]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/16/14/WhatsApp-Image-2024-12-16-at-16.34.28.jpg)
The prime minister will meet with leaders from the 10 member states of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) - a UK-led European defence alliance -in Tallinn on Monday and Tuesday, with defence spending expected to be the main topic of discussion. Just hours before the summit began, Estonia’s defence minister Hanno Pevkur issued a stark warning to allies that spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence is simply not enough.
He urged allies to act immediately to boost funding, suggesting one possible method would be to introduce a security tax – something Estonia will be introducing from the new year. While ministers have pledged to boost UK defence spending from its current point - at just above 2 per cent - to 2.5 per cent, it is not yet clear when or how this target will be achieved.
Mr Pevkur said the topic of defence spending will be the main topic of discussion at the Tallinn summit, telling The Independent: “My main message is that paying 2 per cent of GDP to secure the peace is not very much”. “We don’t have time to wait to go up to 3 per cent or even to 2.5 per cent. We need to do it immediately. We had to increase our taxes, so we are introducing a security tax here in Estonia from January next year”.
