Britain will accelerate an increase to its defense spending, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Tuesday, on the eve of a crucial visit to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington that is set to be dominated by the future of the war in Ukraine.
Starmer said he will raise military spending from 2.3 percent of Britain’s GDP to 2.5 percent by 2027, and then again to 2.6 percent the following year, as a rift opens up between Trump and Europe over the future of the conflict.
But he will fund the rise by cutting Britain’s already depleted foreign aid budget, which will now fall to just 0.3 percent of the country’s GDP.
“This government will begin the biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War,” Starmer told parliament as he laid out the plans. The rise had felt increasingly inevitable in recent weeks, but the speed of the uplift and the timing of the announcement – just before Starmer flies to Washington – was a surprise.
“We must reject any false choice between our allies. Between one side of the Atlantic or the other. That is against our history, country and party,” Starmer told members of parliament. He called Britain’s relationship with America his country’s “most important bilateral alliance,” and said: “This week when I meet President Trump, I will be clear: I want this relationship to go from strength to strength.”
Starmer also set an ambition to hike defense spending to 3 percent in the next parliament, which will begin in 2029 at the latest after the next general election, and will last for up to five years. That final target would depend on the fiscal conditions at the time, Starmer said.
Trump has urged NATO countries to raise their defense spending to 5 percent and made clear that the US will not work to maintain Europe’s security in the future. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth quickly praised the move, calling it a “strong step from an enduring partner.”
At a news conference held by Starmer later on Tuesday, Starmer told reporters that the increase in defense spending was “three years in the making,” referencing Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. But he admitted the decision was “accelerated” by events of recent weeks, during which Trump has started negotiations over the war in Ukraine with Russia – but without Kyiv – and has made clear he will not work to maintain Europe’s security. “President Trump thinks we should do more, and I agree with him. It chimes with my thinking on this,” Starmer said.
“This is very much my decision, based on my assessment of the circumstances that we face as a country, and it is taken first and foremost to ensure that the United Kingdom and its citizens are safe and secure,” Starmer added.
Britain’s previous Conservative government set a goal to reach the 2.5 percent target on defense spending by 2030. After winning a general election last year, Starmer maintained the goal, but refused to set a timeline on when it would be achieved.
“Courage is what our own era now demands of us,” Starmer told MPs as he announced the new timeframe. But while the increase was welcomed in Washington and within Britain’s defense community, it will not be enough to fully modernize a military that has suffered a drop in troop numbers, equipment and overall combat readiness during the 21st century.
A ‘cruel betrayal’ on aid spending
The increase in defense spending will be funded in part through a cut to international development spending, which will now fall from 0.5 percent of Britain’s GDP to 0.3 percent in the coming years, Starmer said. “That is not an announcement I am happy to make,” he said, adding the defense increase “can only be funded through hard choices.”
Britain’s foreign aid budget stood at 0.7 percent just a few years ago, but has now been used by leaders of both major parties to help fund other expenditures.
There were pockets of disquiet within Starmer’s own party about the decision. “It is the wrong approach on so many levels,” one Labour MP, speaking anonymously in order to freely discuss their views, told CNN. The MP said Starmer was “following the US” on reducing overseas aid – it comes as the USAID agency is gutted in Washington – and said Britain’s development funding “is a vital strand of our overseas work to build long term security.”
And the move was met with dismay by some of the charities and organizations who have relied on government funding. WaterAid, a charity focused on providing clean water and water systems to those in need, called the move a “cruel betrayal of people living in poverty globally.”
And David Miliband, the President of the International Rescue Committee, said in a statement that “the global consequences of this decision will be far reaching and devastating for people who need more help not less.”
CNN’s Catherine Nicholls contributed to this article
