The Prime Minister has cut the foreign aid budget to increase defence spending from 2.3% to 2.5% in 2027.
Sir Keir Starmer announced that defence spending will mean £13.4 billion more every year to be spent and admitted this requires “extremely difficult and painful choices.”
During the next Parliament Starmer said he wants this figure to reach 3% of gross domestic product (GDP).
The Prime Minister said that development assistance aid will be cut from the current level of 0.5% to 0.3% of gross national income in 2027.
Starmer told MPs in the House of Commons, “We will do everything we can to return to a world where that is not the case, and rebuild a capability on development, but at times like this, the defence and security of the British people must always come first.
“That is the number one priority of this government.”
The Tory leader Kemi Badenoch welcomed Starmer’s spending increase and said that the West overall has “not done enough to support Ukraine.”
She said, “We want this terrible war to end, but Ukraine needs to be at the negotiating table. But the West must continue to be intensely robust in the face of Vladimir Putin.”
The Liberal Democrats has called on seized Russian assets to be used to increase defence spending.
Sir Ed Davey said, “We strongly support the prime minister raising defence spending to 2.5%, preferably using seize Russian assets to pay for extra defence support for Ukraine.”
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