Nato to force UK to lift defence spending to 3.5% of GDP to appease Trump, say sources
Starmer bound to accept Mark Rutte’s higher target after announcing ‘Nato-first’ defence strategy, insiders say
Defence sources believe that Britain will be forced to sign up to a target of lifting defence spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035 at this month’s Nato summit after a campaign by the alliance’s secretary general to keep Donald Trump onboard.
One senior insider said Britain would “without a doubt” sign up to a proposal from the Nato chief, Mark Rutte, to lift allies’ defence spending, which would represent a real-terms increase of about £30bn from the Labour government’s plan.
They expressed surprise that Keir Starmer had tied himself up over spending at the launch of the strategic defence review on Monday, when he refused to set a firm date when budgets would increase to 3%.
The prime minister has agreed to increase defence spending from its current 2.33% of GDP to 2.5% by 2027 and to 3% in the next parliament, which was the spending context for Monday’s 140-page strategic review.
Starmer had said in a BBC interview on Monday he would not agree to “performative fantasy politics” and pluck a date out of the air as to when the UK would meet the 3% target, even though the call from Nato is for a higher figure.
Downing St did not comment on Tuesday, but pointed to comments made by Starmer later on Monday when he visited the BAE shipyard at Govan, Glasgow, in which he appeared to acknowledge the higher target.
The prime minister said in response to a question from Sky News: “There are discussions about what the contribution should be going into the Nato conference in two or three weeks’ time,” as part of a wider conversation about “what sort of Nato will be capable of being as effective in the future”.
Rutte’s proposal is that allies would agree to spend 3.5% on hard defence and 1.5% on cyber, intelligence and military-related infrastructure when leaders meet in The Hague for Trump’s first Nato summit of his second term.
Last week Rutte said: “I assume that in The Hague we will agree on a high defence spend target of in total 5%.” Of that, he added, “it will be considerably north” of “3% when it comes to the hard spending”.
Britain unveils radical defence overhaul to meet new threats
UK turns to tech, drones and data for modern military
Up to 12 attack submarines to replace fleet of seven
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Britain said on Monday it would radically change its approach to defence to address threats from Russia, nuclear risks and cyber-attacks by investing in drones and digital warfare rather than relying on a much larger army to engage in modern combat.
Responding to U.S. President Donald Trump's insistence that Europe take more responsibility for its own security, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged the largest sustained increase in British defence spending since the end of the Cold War.
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