In light of growing challenges to international security, the prime minister Rishi Sunak announces an increase in the military budget.
UK Plans Defence Spending Increase to 2.5% of GDP by 2030, PM Announces
According to the prime minister, the UK would put its armaments sector on a “war-footing” and increase defence spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2030.
The increase is less drastic than some experts believe is necessary, but over the next six years, it will still cost the armed forces tens of millions of extra pounds.
The defence budget will jump to £87 billion by the end of the decade, starting with an immediate increase.
As previously said, Rishi Sunak would only make additional investments when the economy permitted it. That warning has been taken out.
During a speech in Poland, the Prime Minister said that his plan: “Delivers an additional £75 billion for defence by the end of the decade and secures our place as by far the largest defence power in Europe.
“Today is a turning point for European security and a landmark moment in the defence of the United Kingdom,” he continued.
The UK initiative comes at a time when Russia's war in Ukraine, the Middle East conflict, and an increasingly assertive China pose mounting challenges to global security.
The “world is less safe than it has been in decades,” the prime minister stated earlier in the day during a trip to Poland, when he also unveiled an additional package of weapons, ammunition, and £500 million in funds for Ukraine's military forces.
UK's Defence Spending Shift: Urgent Focus on Core Budget
The UK presently spends little over 2% of GDP on defence, but it has just begun to include funds needed to defend Ukraine against Russia's invasion, which opponents argue artificially boosts this ratio.
The plan for increased defence spending over the next six years is expected to focus solely on the core Ministry of Defence budget, amounting to tens of billions of pounds in total.
Defence experts have long cautioned that new investment is urgently needed to close huge capability gaps in the army, Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force following decades of cost-cutting measures implemented by successive administrations since the end of the Cold War.
There is also a need to improve national defence capabilities.
Sky News reported earlier this month that the UK has no plans for its own defences in the case of a war.
Officials have begun work on a “national defence plan” for the entire government.
However, any return to a Cold War-style, ready-for-war posture will necessitate political leaders making defence a really national endeavour once more, rather than something that is solely delivered by the military.