Keir Starmer Announces Foreign Aid Is Being Slashed To Boost Defence Spending

Britain’s foreign aid budget is to be slashed to pay for a huge boost in defence spending, Keir Starmer has announced.

The prime minister told the Commons that the government will hit its target of spending 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence by 2027 – three years earlier than planned.

That means an extra £13.4 billion a year will be spent on defence, which Starmer said was the biggest sustained increase in the military budget since the Cold War.

It comes after Donald Trump signalled that America would no longer provide military protection for Europe and against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Starmer said that the amount spent on international aid will be reduced from 0.5% to 0.3% to pay for it.

The PM said: “That is not an announcement I am happy to make. I am proud of our record on overseas development.

“At times like these the defence and security of the British people must always come first – that is the number one priority of this government.”

The prime minister also told MPs that “subject to economic conditions” the UK will further increase its defence spending to 3% of GDP after the next general election.