UK PM Keir Starmer announced today that the UK will increase its defense spending by an unprecedented amount “since the end of the Cold War,” just two days before his upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington.

In an unscheduled speech before the House of Commons, Starmer revealed that his government would raise the defense budget to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, up from the current 2.3%, marking “the largest sustainable increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War.”

Starmer also mentioned that starting in 2027, the budget allocated for security and intelligence services will bring total defense spending to 2.6% of GDP, rising to 3% by 2029.

He stated that the world has “changed everything in it… the nature of war has completely changed. This is evident when we look at the battlefield in Ukraine. Therefore, we must update and review our capabilities.”

Al Akhbar