Britain will increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, a move which will mean billions of pounds in extra spending, Rishi Sunak has said.
The prime minister set out plans to ramp up defence spending to meet the target by 2030, a move praised by former defence minister James Heappey. Mr Heappey, who quit last month and called for a boost to defence spending, said it was “enormous news” and “hugely needed”.
Mr Sunak said it was “the biggest strengthening of our national defence for a generation”.
Former defence secretary Ben Wallace has demanded that all parties commit to a more ambitious target to spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence spending, warning of the “dangers we face” as a country.
The current defence secretary, Grant Shapps, has also called for Britain to hit the 3 per cent target.
Currently the UK spends just over 2 per cent of GDP on defence. The current figures include Britain’s support for Ukraine, which critics say artificially boosts the figure.
Mr Sunak’s announcement comes after he warned the world is now “more volatile and dangerous” than at any time since the Cold War.
The PM told reporters on a flight to Poland: “My first priority is to keep people safe, and you’re right, I have been honest with people that the world is less safe than it has been in decades and my job, indeed my obligation, is to invest to keep the country safe, and that’s what I’m doing.
“We’re stepping up because that is what the situation demands and requires.”
He also piled pressure on European allies to boost their own defence spending, saying it is “important that Europeans invest in their own security”.
Boris Johnson promised at a Nato summit in 2022 to increase Britain’s defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP this decade.
In 2014, Nato heads of state agreed to commit at least 2 per cent of GDP to spending on armed forces or the armed forces of Nato allies or the alliance itself.
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