Stamer says the UK needs to "accelerate" increasing military spending

Reference News Network reported on February 19 According to the Financial Times website on February 16, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that the UK needs to "accelerate" its military spending. He is considering speeding up the goal of defense spending reaching 3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is working to find sources of funding to increase military expenditure.

Prime Minister Starmer made the remarks after returning to the UK from the three-day Munich Security Conference. During the conference, he proposed a vision for the UK to join allied multilateral defense initiatives aimed at funding and overseeing joint military rearmament.

Insiders revealed that Starmer is considering implementing the plan for defense spending to reach 3% of GDP ahead of schedule. Previously, the BBC reported that Starmer might set the end of the current parliamentary term as a deadline, but emphasized that this is not the most likely outcome.

The UK Prime Minister previously stated that his "goal" is to have UK defense spending account for 3% of GDP during the next parliamentary term (expected to last from around 2029 to 2034).

The UK and its NATO allies have also committed to increasing defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, with 3.5% of GDP allocated for "core" defense—namely, armed forces and military equipment, and an additional 1.5% for defense-related infrastructure and security.

On the 16th, when asked about this matter, Starmer did not deny the reports and stated that Europe must "increase investment in defense and security."

He added, "We face a threat from Russia. In a few days, it will be the fourth anniversary of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine."

Starmer said, "We must remain vigilant about this, as it affects everyone present here, it affects everyone in this country, so we must step up our efforts. This means that in terms of defense spending, we need to accelerate our pace."

Starting in 2027, UK defense spending will increase to 2.5% of GDP, up from about 2.3% when the Labour Party came to power in 2024.

In January, Chief of the Defence Staff Richard Nugee told lawmakers that without additional funding, the military would be unable to implement the recommendations in the flagship strategic defense review report released by the government last year, unless existing projects were cut.

The Starmer government has yet to announce the long-delayed defense investment plan, which aims to outline the UK's military spending strategy for the next decade.

Starmer has not confirmed how to fund the increase in defense spending. Officials have discussed a range of options, including launching new public-private partnership projects and relaxing fiscal rules to increase borrowing.

Regarding the speculation that the plan for defense spending to reach 3% of GDP could be completed by the end of the current parliamentary term, the Prime Minister's spokesperson declined to comment on the 16th but reiterated Starmer's remarks made in Munich.

The spokesperson said, "We have expressed a shared commitment in this regard: through a historic agreement, we will increase defense spending to 5% of GDP."

Labour MP and Chair of the House of Commons Defence Committee, Tan Desi, urged Starmer to commit to achieving the earlier target. The Conservative Party stated that Starmer's "tough rhetoric" on increasing military spending stands in stark contrast to his lack of "concrete action." (Translated by Zhao Feifei)