Keir Starmer provides defence replace as high navy chief points Russia warning
Keir Starmer last year promised to increase the defence budget to 2.5% of GDP next year and 3% after the next election, but he has signalled he could go further
The UK and allies are grappling with the threat from Vladimir Putin’s Russia(Image: AP)
Keir Starmer has said Britain “needs to go faster” on defence spending amid speculation a promised hike could be brought forward.
The Prime Minister last year promised to increase the defence budget to 2.5% of GDP next year and 3% after the next election. But he signalled he could go further at the weekend, telling world leaders at the Munich Security Conference: “To meet the wider threat, it’s clear that we are going to have to spend more, faster.”
Asked about reports he could bring forward the promised hike to 3% to 2029, Mr Starmer did not deny the reports and said Europe must “step up when it comes to defence and security”
He said: “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.”
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It comes after the Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, issued a joint call with his German counterpart for a “step change in our defence and security”. The pair warned Europe must confront uncomfortable truths about its security as Russia had “shifted decisively westward”.
Writing in The Guardian and Die Welt, they said: “There is a moral dimension to this endeavour.
“Rearmament is not warmongering; it is the responsible action of nations determined to protect their people and preserve peace. Strength deters aggression. Weakness invites it.”
The Government has yet to publish its delayed defence investment plan, which is expected to set out how it will meet commitments to swell budgets.
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to rip up her strict fiscal rules, which prevent her from borrowing for day to day spending.
“The delays on the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) have already put thousands of UK defence jobs in jeopardy,” she said.
“Our workers have the skills and experience to deliver for the British economy. Treasury ‘bean counting’, which is blocking action, must be ditched now. It’s time for decisive action to back Britain’s defence workers. Further delay will prove disastrous.”
It is understood that the Chancellor has no plans to ditch her fiscal rules.
