UK Announces £15 Billion Increase in Defense Spending

Xinhua News Agency, London, June 30 (Reporter Yu Aicen) British Prime Minister Starmer announced on June 30 the specific details of the defense investment plan that had been repeatedly postponed. According to the plan, the UK will increase defense spending by £15 billion, bringing the total defense expenditure over the next four years to nearly £300 billion.

In his speech that day, Starmer stated that the UK is raising the proportion of defense spending in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2.3% in 2024 to 2.7%, with plans to further increase it to 3%.

Starmer indicated that to create fiscal space for increased defense investment, some projects in areas such as roads and energy will not be able to proceed as planned. He described these projects as "important, but not urgent."

Starmer also announced a series of specific measures, including investing over £5 billion in the development of drones and autonomous weapon systems, establishing a defense export financing mechanism with a total scale of £50 billion, and investing £8.6 billion in the joint development of the "Tempest" fighter jet with Italy and Japan, among others.

He also stated that the UK committed at last year's NATO summit to increase broader national security spending, including defense, energy security, and critical infrastructure security, to 5% of GDP, and the defense investment plan will raise this proportion to 4.2%.

NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg welcomed the UK's plan on social media that day, stating that it helps achieve the defense spending targets agreed upon between the UK and NATO last year.

This plan was originally scheduled to be released in the fall of 2025, but its announcement was repeatedly delayed due to disputes between the UK Ministry of Defense and the Treasury over issues such as the scale of funding, allocation cycles, and sources of funding.