Labour urged to ramp up defence spending
The Labour government is being urged to ramp up defence spending at a faster pace as opposition party leaders warned threats to Greenland, Ukraine and Nato required Keir Starmer to take swift action.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey were among those demanding the government to bring forward a 2034 deadline to increase defence expenditure to 3 per cent.
During a tense Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Starmer was challenged on the capabilities of UK armed forces and national security guarantees.
The Prime Minister confirmed that he would put a declaration on intentions to send British troops to protect Ukraine after any ceasefire to a vote in parliament.
He also said there was full agreement between the US and the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ on the provision of security guarantees to Ukraine after a ceasefire with Russia is agreed.
A full statement in the Commons regarding the declaration signed by leaders including Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz to secure Ukraine is expected to be delivered within days.
But opposition leaders challenged Starmer to increase defence spending in light of global events.
President Trump opened the year with a shock operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
Reports on Wednesday said US forces seized a ‘shadow’ oil tanker which had previously been near Venezuela and that was now flying the Russian flag.
Trump has also repeated threats to annex Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory belonging to Nato member Denmark, in recent days, prompting a declaration from several European countries stating that matters concerning Greenland were to be decided independently of US intervention.
Starmer ‘happy’ with defence spending
The range of geopolitical issues drove Badenoch to call for “ambition” on defence spending targets to move to “commitment”.
Davey also demanded the Prime Minister to increase defence spending “more quickly than currently planned”.
In response to Badenoch’s demands, Starmer said: “I am happy that we are investing to keep our country safe.
“It is the biggest sustained increase [in defence spending] since the Cold War.”
Government officials also said investments were being made for “war fighting readiness”.
“We have confidence in British armed forces,” the Prime Minister’s spokesman added.
However, the government said there were no further updates on the publication of its defence investment strategy, which was due for release shortly after last summer and has been delayed by internal disagreements.
Government expenditure on defence is projected to rise from 2.3 per cent of GDP to 2.5 per cent as a share of the economy in 2027.
Spending plans have not been set out for the longer term 2034 target to increase defence spending further.