Britain is almost top of the table for big military spending in the world. It’s fifth in the world after the US, China, India and Russia. We spend more on armaments than Germany or France. [Source Stockholm International Peace Research Institute report 2022, therefore 2021 figures.]
We spend more of our GDP on defence that any other country in NATO except the US, and more than any EU country.
Keir Starmer seems desperate to spend more and more on defence/arms in what seems to be an attempt to be the best friend of US President Trump.
Present Day UK Defence Spending
● 2019 Conservative Manifesto commitment to increase defence spending every year by ½ percent ABOVE INFLATION.
● 19 November 2020: Government announced £16.5 billion increase in defence spending ABOVE MANIFESTO COMMITMENT – the biggest increase in defence spending for thirty years.
● Total increase in arms spending £24.1 billion over four years compared to 2019
● Further huge increase in defence spending promised in next 7 years.
From UK government website, announcement 24 February 2025:
“Defence spending to increase to 2.5% of GDP from April 2027, with an ambition to reach 3% in the next parliament.”
To spend 3% of GDP on defence the government would need to increase defence spending by about 60% in real terms. This is equivalent to about £157 billion in additional spending.
Comment
The UK is heavily in debt and short of money for every kind of social service, so this is the time to assess what actually will provide us with security and maybe improved diplomacy would be part of the answer.
We do not become more secure the more we spend on weapons. We are secure in our relationships with former enemies France and Germany because we have developed friendship and co-operation. Not so long ago we were doing this with Russia, until NATO antagonised Russia and Russia invaded Ukraine. For more on what went wrong please see my AGAINST ARMS SPENDING INCREASE letter to my MP.
