SIR Keir Starmer will today commit to spending £40billion more a year on defence — but with no plan to fund it.
The PM will fly to a Nato summit where world leaders will confirm plans for allies to fork out five per cent of GDP by 2035.
4
4
4
The pledge, to be made in The Hague in the Netherlands, covers 3.5 per cent for hard defence, such as troops and weapons.
The rest will go on wider security, such as border protection and cyber defences.
It forms part of a National Security Strategy to be unveiled today which ministers claim will protect the economy and create defence, energy and technology jobs.
But despite the rhetoric, ministers say there will be no acceleration in defence spending.
The UK is set to hit 2.6 per cent of GDP by 2027.
The PM’s spokesman refused to say how Britain would fund the full 3.5 per cent core defence uplift by 2035, saying only that it would be “reviewed” in 2029.
The Royal United Services Institute think-tank said earlier this month that meeting 3.5 per cent by then would cost £40billion more a year.
Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge said: “Instead of using smoke and mirrors to inflate defence spending, Labour must get to three per cent this Parliament and back our country’s defence with a fully funded plan.”
Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice said: “Increased defence spending is always welcome, but this is a hollow and unfunded promise made by a government more interested in securing headlines than delivering.”
4
