British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Monday, October 26, that his finance minister John Healey would set out this week a plan to fully fund the government's existing defence commitments alongside a pathway to hitting a 2035 NATO spending pledge, Reuters reported. Healey is due to deliver his first budget on Wednesday, with the defence industry looking for reassurance that the government has a plan to step up defence spending.
Source: Reuters, via Europe Says
Burnham told ITV's Good Morning Britain that the first challenge his government had to meet was to fully fund the already announced defence investment plan. “We've been working hard to do that,” he said. “It's crucial that we have a funded plan that we can then implement, and we will set out more details on Wednesday as to how we've done that.” Asked if the pathway set out on Wednesday would include a commitment to lift spending to 3% of GDP on defence by 2030 and 3.5% by 2035, he said: “It is, and we will set out a plan as to how we think is the right way to do that.” “We will meet our NATO commitments,” he added.
Source: Reuters, via Europe Says
Britain currently spends around 2.6% of its GDP on defence and had previously said it would hit the 3% target in the next parliament, with an election due at the latest in mid-2029, Reuters reported. Last year, NATO members agreed to spend 3.5% of GDP on core defence requirements by 2035, with an additional 1.5% of GDP on broader defence and security measures. The defence industry wants Britain to set out a steady increase in defence spending, rather than pushing it back beyond 2030, in order to have credibility with allies and investors.
Source: Reuters, via Europe Says
The Office for Budget Responsibility has estimated that reaching 3% would require an additional £17.3 billion in 2029-30 — yaani about 1,730 crore pounds of extra spending in that year alone — the Press Association reported. Healey, who resigned as defence secretary earlier this year over a dispute about the pace and extent of military funding, had previously said the timetable would be detailed at next year's spending review rather than the Budget, PA added.
Source: Press Association, via Hillingdon Times
The Defence Investment Plan published on June 30 set out £298 billion of planned Ministry of Defence spending over the four years to 2029-30 — yaani about 29,800 crore pounds — and, according to a House of Commons Library briefing on the plan, expects NATO-qualifying defence spending to rise to 2.7% of GDP in 2027-28 and stay at that level for the following two years, Business Matters reported. The briefing notes the plan gives no indication of when the government expects to meet the 3.5% target — the gap Wednesday's Budget is now expected to address.
Source: Business Matters, reporting the Commons Library briefing