Sir Keir Starmer has signed up to a Nato commitment to dedicate 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product on “core defence” and a further 1.5 per cent on “resilience and security” covering “wider homeland security and national resilience”.
The pledge – which is due to be ratified at the Nato’s summit in The Hague on Tuesday and Wednesday – is aimed at placating Donald Trump, who has repeatedly demanded that members of the alliance spend 5 per cent of GDP on defence.
He added that the security strategy would create jobs and drive growth.
Details announcing the target released by Downing Street said the UK “had long argued that investment in things like energy security and tackling smuggling gangs is vital to national security”.
When asked by The i Paper whether spending on border security and net-zero projects could count towards the figure, the spokesman did not rule it out.
It is understood that the Government will have to begin reporting to Nato on the mix of its spending by May next year.
“From a UK perspective, it is likely that more security spending from the Home Office, Net Zero projects and healthcare will have to be included in the 1.5 per cent.”
Big increase in UK plans
The target to spend 3.5 per cent on core defence by 2035 marks a major increase on the UK’s existing plans, with Starmer previously only outlining an “ambition” to hit 3 per cent in the next parliament, without setting out detail on how to achieve it.
Downing Street has said that Nato allies will “review the trajectory and the balance of spend between defence and wider national resilience in 2029”.
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The Atlantic Council think tank said that the “most logical reason” why allies had settled on 5 per cent was because Trump “demanded it”, with fears of the US abandoning Nato running “deep” among members.
“The only viable way to reach 5 percent defence spending is to redefine ‘defence spending’.”
“Although this rhetorical sleight of hand may enable allies to reach the magic number, it also carries significant risk insofar as allies may seek to count any number of questionable budgetary expenditures as ‘defence-related’.”
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