The UK Prime Minister’s announcement comes just days before his meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House.

Warning of a “new era of insecurity” for Europe, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged on Tuesday to increase UK’s defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2027.

Starmer said that his announcement amounted to the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War, adding that it was necessary because tyrants such as Russian President Vladimir Putin respond only to force.

Starmer is due to meet US President Donald Trump – who has long questioned the value of NATO and complained that the US provides security to European countries that are not doing their part – at the White House on Thursday.

The UK currently spends 2.3% of its GDP on defence. While the government has made previous announcements about the 2.5% spending target, it has not given a specific date.

Starmer told lawmakers that the increase would be an additional $13.4 billion (16.6 billion euros) per year, adding that the target is for defence spending to reach 3% of GDP by 2035.

To finance the increase, he said overseas development aid would be cut from 0.5% to 0.3% of national income.

Source: Euronews

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