Sunak vows to hit 2.5% defence spending target by 2030

Rishi Sunak has announced a major increase in defence spending of £75 billion over the next six years, bringing the UK’s annual tally to 2.5 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade.

On a visit to Warsaw, the Prime Minister made the announcement at a joint press conference with Nato Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg.  

Sunak said: “We cannot keep expecting America to pay any price or pay any burden if we ourselves are unwilling to make greater sacrifices for our own security.

“So I’m proud that the United Kingdom is increasing our defence spending to £87bn a year, the biggest strengthening of our national defence in a generation, guaranteeing our position as the second-largest defence power in Nato after the US.

The PM pointed out that Britain isn’t the only Nato member bolstering its defence spending. On the contrary, other European countries such as Poland, Germany, Norway and the Baltic nations are all stepping up to take greater responsibility. “And I’m confident whether in months or years others will follow too,” he added. 

This commitment follows the recent resignation of armed forces minister James Heappey, who had criticised the government for failing to invest in defence. Heappey said today’s news was “enormous and hugely needed in the MoD.”

The government has been under pressure from leading military officials and advisors to increase spending in the face of rising geopolitical tensions. Just yesterday in Reaction, former defence secretary Michael Fallon called for an increase in defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP for all Nato countries. 

Former defence secretary Ben Wallace, who had insisted on a cross-party commitment to 3 per cent of GDP as a minimum spending level on British defence as recently as last month, welcomed the announcement, despite it coming up short of his initial demand. 

It was also supported by two former armed forces ministers, Tobias Ellwood and Mark Francois, with the latter resorting to Latin to express his approval: “Si vis pacem, para bellum.” If you want peace, as the saying goes, prepare for war. 

Sunak was eager to stress that, while Britain is “not on the brink of war”, we are living in a more dangerous world. The question now is whether 2.5 per cent is enough, bearing in mind spending will not reach that peak for another six years. For context, in 1944, defence spending consumed 50 per cent of Britain’s GDP.

The calls for 3 per cent are unlikely to cease. But today’s announcement is a step in the right direction, which will please the defence industry and those in politics who have been raising the alarm bells about increasingly hostile superpowers, Russia and China.

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