Keir Starmer plans ‘road map’ for UK to hit higher defence spending goal

Sir Keir Starmer has said he will set out a “road map” for the UK to raise defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, as he travels to Washington for a Nato summit where he will meet Joe Biden and other world leaders.

Preparing for his debut overseas trip since taking office, the prime minister said he would next week launch a “root and branch” review of the country’s defences, which officials said would include a concrete date to hit the spending target.

The review will consider the UK’s military priorities and required investments, and comes amid pressure across Nato to channel more funding into European defence capabilities.

Starmer will meet some key allies for the first time at the gathering to mark the alliance’s 75th anniversary, including Biden, who will host him at the White House on Wednesday for formal bilateral talks. 

Starmer will also meet hard-right Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, with whom his Tory predecessor Rishi Sunak had strong links, for the first time, as well as mixing with national leaders he has met before, including German chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.

An increasing numbers of Nato allies have called for a more ambitious target for member nations than the existing 2 per cent threshold, arguing that it is not large enough to fund the scale of Europe’s defence investment required to meet the potential threat posed by Russia.

This year, 23 of Nato’s 32 members are expected to hit the 2 per cent target, up from just six in 2021. But some leaders will use the Washington summit to call for a new target, three Nato diplomats told the FT.

“The challenges are only getting larger,” said one person briefed on the preparations. “And a difficult discussion on funding the response to that is going to have to happen.”

Only six Nato members will spend more than 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence this year: Poland, the three Baltic states, the US and Greece.

In its manifesto ahead of last week’s UK election, Labour vowed it would conclude a comprehensive review of Britain’s defences within its first year in government, but failed to set a date for when the country would raise defence investment to 2.5 per cent of GDP.

Former Conservative prime minister Sunak had promised to hit the target by 2030 if re-elected, and made the timetable for a defence spending increase a central theme of his doomed election campaign.

Starmer said on Tuesday: “At a time when we face multiple threats at home and abroad, we must make sure we are ready to defend ourselves. That’s why I have immediately ordered a root-and-branch review that will secure Britain’s defences for the future.”

Asked what he would say to Russian President Vladimir Putin, he replied: “My message is very, very clear that this Nato summit is an opportunity for allies to stand together to strengthen their resolve — particularly in light of that appalling attack — against Russian aggression.”

Newly appointed defence secretary John Healey — who travelled to Ukraine over the weekend — had already conducted “detailed preparatory work” on the review, which will place a “Nato-first” policy at the heart of the UK’s defence plans, No 10 said. 

It will also set out reforms to improve procurement by the Ministry of Defence, which has a disastrous record of waste and delays.

Healey, UK foreign secretary David Lammy and European relations minister Nick Thomas-Symonds are all accompanying Starmer to the Nato summit.

The presence of Thomas-Symonds indicates the new prime minister wishes to discuss UK-EU relations on the margins of the summit, ahead of hosting the European Political Community meeting at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire next Thursday. 

Despite Donald Trump leading Biden in the US polls ahead of November’s presidential election, there were no pre-arranged plans for Starmer’s delegation to meet Republican party figures while in Washington, according to UK officials.