The United Kingdom will increase defense spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Tuesday, funding the initiative by reducing the country's international aid budget. The decision, which will see aid spending drop from 0.5% to 0.3% of gross national income, comes as Starmer prepares to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington later this week.
"This government will begin the biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War," Starmer told Parliament, emphasizing the need to strengthen NATO and European security amid ongoing conflict in Ukraine. "A generational challenge requires a generational response."
The funding shift will inject an additional £13.4 billion annually into Britain's defense budget starting in 2027. Starmer also signaled an ambition to raise spending to 3% of GDP in the next parliamentary term, contingent on fiscal conditions. The move is expected to bolster military capabilities, though it stops short of the 5% spending benchmark Trump has pushed European NATO allies to meet.
Starmer highlighted that defense expenditures will rise to 2.6% of GDP when intelligence services are factored in, stressing that Britain's security strategy increasingly relies on its intelligence capabilities. The U.K.'s "contribution to the intelligence services should be, I think, considered part of that contribution to collective Western security." Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said earlier this month.
The decision to cut aid spending has drawn criticism from charities and opposition lawmakers, who argue it undermines the country's long-standing humanitarian commitments. "This is a short-sighted and appalling move by both the PM and Treasury," said Romilly Greenhill, CEO of Bond, a U.K. network for international development groups. "Slashing the already diminished U.K. aid budget to fund an uplift in defense is a reckless decision that will have devastating consequences for millions of marginalized people worldwide."
Labour MP Sarah Champion, chair of the International Development Committee, echoed concerns, calling the cut a "false economy" that would make the world less safe. Save the Children described the move as "a betrayal of the world's most vulnerable children."
The aid reductions mark a further retreat from Britain's global development commitments. In 2020, the Conservative government lowered aid spending from 0.7% to 0.5% of GDP, citing pandemic-related fiscal constraints. That move was initially positioned as temporary, but Starmer's new plan cements a deeper reduction.
The policy shift is aimed at strengthening Britain's standing within NATO as European leaders scramble to shape security strategies amid Trump's push to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly warned that the U.S. will not take part in peacekeeping operations following any settlement, placing additional pressure on European nations to increase defense spending.
Starmer's visit to the White House follows French President Emmanuel Macron's own discussions with Trump earlier in the week. The British prime minister is expected to use the meeting to reinforce the U.K.'s commitment to military investment while rejecting what he called the "false choice" between maintaining strong ties with the U.S. and the European Union.
"One of the great lessons of our history is that instability in Europe will always wash up on our shores," Starmer said. "Tyrants like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin only respond to strength. Russia is a menace in our waters, in our airspace, and on our streets."
The government's Strategic Defense Review, expected later this spring, will outline how the U.K. plans to reach its defense spending targets and address threats facing the country. Starmer has also pledged to publish a comprehensive national security strategy before the NATO summit in June.
While opposition leaders generally support the increase in defense spending, they have questioned whether Starmer's economic policies can sustain the rise in military funding. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch backed the defense boost but challenged whether the government had a strong enough economic strategy to support it. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey called for cross-party talks to accelerate defense spending to 3% of GDP, suggesting that frozen Russian assets could be used to help fund support for Ukraine.
The move aligns with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's recent remarks urging alliance members to exceed the bloc's 2% minimum defense spending guideline. However, it remains unclear whether the U.K.'s increase will satisfy Trump, who has repeatedly called for European allies to contribute more to their own security.
