On February 25, UK Prime Minister Starmer announced that by 2027, the UK will raise the proportion of defense spending to 2.5% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Currently, UK's defense spending accounts for about 2.3% of its GDP. Starmer stated in the House of Commons that the increase in the proportion of defense spending means that the UK's defense spending will rise by £13.4 billion in 2027.
Starmer said that to increase defense spending, the UK government will cut the proportion of development aid spending to GDP from 0.5% to 0.3% in 2027. However, he also said that the UK will continue to play an important humanitarian role in places such as Ukraine and the Gaza Strip in Palestine.
Starmer also mentioned that if the Labour government wins the UK general election in 2029, the proportion of UK's defense spending to GDP will increase to 3%.
Some believe that Starmer's announcement of increasing the proportion of defense spending at this time might be related to his upcoming visit to the US this week to meet with US President Trump. Trump had previously demanded that NATO member states raise the proportion of their defense spending to GDP to 5%.