Starmer announces cuts in overseas aid to fund rise to 2.5% defence spending ahead of Trump meeting

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced that defence spending will increase to 2.5% of gross domestic product by 2027.

In a statement to the Commons, he said: “We must find courage in our history, courage in who we are as a nation, because courage is what our own era now demands of us.

“So starting today, I can announce this Government will begin the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War. We will deliver our commitment to spend 2.5%. of GDP on defence, but we will bring it forward so that we reach that level in 2027, and we will maintain that for the rest of this Parliament.

“And let me spell it out, that means spending £13.4bn more on defence every year from 2027.”

Starmer said he would fund the increase in defence spending by slashing funding for overseas aid from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% by 2027.

It comes ahead of his trip to Washington on Wednesday where Sir Keir will meet with President Trump.

Trump has been demanding that Europe spends more on defence, while the transatlantic approach to the war in Ukraine has come under strain after US interventions such as the US President suggesting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is a “dictator”.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has urged Sir Keir to consider redirecting development aid and welfare funding towards defence spending.

But she said that 2.5% by 2030 was “no longer sufficient”.

In a speech in Westminster, Badenoch said that defence spending needs to be increased “significantly” but the issue is more than committing to a figure.

“I will back the Prime Minister in taking those difficult decisions to increase defence spending,” she said.

“For example, he should consider whether some of the 0.5% currently spent on development aid should be repurposed, at least in the short term, towards defence and security.

“And he should also look at making welfare savings to fund increased defence expenditure.”