Overview
- NATO secretary general Mark Rutte visited the UK this week and met Prime Minister Andy Burnham in Didcot, praising Britain as "serious about security" while pushing for faster action.
- In a Ditchley Foundation lecture Rutte outlined "NATO 3.0," calling on Europe and Canada to spend more, produce more and take greater responsibility for collective defence.
- Rutte named priority investments in long‑range precision weapons, integrated air and missile defence, drones and intelligence as the capabilities NATO wants scaled up first.
- He pressed for a "credible path" with yearly increments toward a 3.5% core defence target by 2035 while the UK’s current budget plans rise to about 2.7% of GDP by 2027/28.
- The push increases political pressure at home where unions and ministers are divided over using public money for defence jobs and industrial renewal or for public services and climate action, and the UK’s next spending review will be decisive.