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3w ago

UK Defence Plans Criticised: NATO Weighs 3.5% to 5% GDP Targets

Critics say recategorising intelligence and foreign office budgets has inflated the UK’s stated rise to 2.5% of GDP

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Sir Keir Starmer meets Donald Trump at the White House in February. (Photo: Carl Court/Pool/Getty)
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Overview

  • Labour’s spending review commits the UK to raising defence outlays to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, claiming 2.6% with added intelligence, foreign office and Ukraine war costs.
  • Former defence secretary Ben Wallace and Tory sources contend that including 0.16% of GDP in intelligence spending means core military funding will be closer to 2.37%.
  • Britain has proposed delaying a NATO 3.5% GDP defence target until 2035, pushing back against US and secretary-general Mark Rutte’s call for a 2032 date and a 5% long-term goal.
  • Rachel Reeves describes the review as the largest defence uplift since the Cold War but offers no detailed path to a 3% baseline in the next parliament.
  • Canada has declared a 17% defence budget boost to CA$62.7 bn for 2025–26 to reach 2% of GDP by fiscal year-end as NATO considers steeper spending goals.