Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Sir Keir Starmer has said Britain needs to “go faster” in raising military spending, as he considers accelerating the timetable for committing 3 per cent of UK GDP to defence and grapples with how to fund an uplift.
The prime minister spoke out after returning from the three-day Munich Security Conference, during which he raised his ambition for the UK to join its allies in a multilateral defence initiative to finance and oversee joint rearmament.
People familiar with the matter said Starmer was examining an option to bring forward plans to spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence, after the BBC reported that he could set the deadline for the end of this parliament, but stressed it was not the likeliest outcome.
The prime minister has previously stated an “ambition” to spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence during the next parliament, which is expected to run from 2029 until roughly 2034.
Britain and its Nato allies have also committed to a separate 5 per cent of GDP spending target by 2035, of which 3.5 per cent of GDP is committed to “core” defence — the armed forces and military equipment — and an extra 1.5 per cent of GDP is spent on defence-related infrastructure and security.
The prime minister did not deny the reports when asked on Monday and said Europe must “step up when it comes to defence and security”.
He added: “We have a threat of Russian aggression. In a few days’ time it’s the four-year anniversary of the start of the conflict in Ukraine.
“We want a just and lasting peace, but that will not extinguish the Russian threat, and we need to be alert to that, because that’s going to affect every single person in this room, every single person in this country, so we need to step up.
“That means on defence spending, we need to go faster.”
UK defence spending will rise to 2.5 per cent of GDP from 2027, up from about 2.3 per cent when Labour came to power in 2024.
In January, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, chief of the defence staff, told MPs that without additional funding, the military would be unable to deliver on the recommendations of the government’s flagship strategic defence review, which reported last year, without cutting existing programmes.
The government is yet to release its delayed defence investment plan, which is due to set out military spending plans for the next decade.
Starmer has yet to confirm how any uplift in defence spending would be funded. Officials have discussed a wide suite of options, ranging from launching new public-private partnerships to loosening the fiscal rules to borrow more.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson declined to comment on Monday on “speculation” about bringing forward the plan to spend 3 per cent of GDP to the end of this parliament, but highlighted Starmer’s intervention on Saturday in Munich.
“We have shown our collective intent in this regard, as well, with the historic agreement to increase spending to 5 per cent on security and defence,” the spokesperson said.
Tan Dhesi, Labour chair of the House of Commons defence committee, encouraged Starmer to commit to the earlier target.
“Given the increased threats and unstable situation we face in our continent, it’s imperative that we chart out a path to significantly boost investment in defence and security. We cannot afford to kick the can down the road into the next parliament,” he said.
The Conservatives said Starmer’s “tough talk” on the need for higher military spending was in stark contrast to his lack of “concrete action”.
Tory shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said “Until Starmer publishes the long-overdue defence investment plan and shows he can stand up to his leftwing backbenchers, talk of 3 per cent defence spending is nothing more than a pipe dream.”