3 h. ago Boris Johnson urges Keir Starmer to boost UK defence spending to 3% of GDP

Speaking from Kyiv on the third anniversary of the start of the conflict, he demanded a rise to at least three per cent of GDP to help guarantee European security against Russian aggression.

Politics

5 h. ago Boris Johnson urges Starmer to increase defence spending to 3%

Mr Johnson was on Monday in Kyiv for the third anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine

Politics

11 h. ago Jeremy Hunt says welfare cuts would let Starmer commit to 3% defence spend now

Mr Hunt said the UK raising defence spending to match the US relative to GDP would secure the future of Ukraine and of Nato.

Economics

32 h. ago Bridget Phillipson blows hole in Sir Keir Starmer's tough talk on defence

The Education Secretary said Labour 's manifesto pledge of hiking it to 2.5 per cent was an 'ambitious' target and suggested it would not be further increased despite calls to do so.

Politics

37 h. ago What is Keir Starmer’s plan to boost UK defence spending and is it affordable?

Keir Starmer is expected to outline plans to hike Britain’s defence spending, The Independent looks at what has been said about the move

Politics

42 h. ago Spending 2.5% of GDP on defence ‘ambitious,’ Cabinet minister says

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson sought to manage expectations ahead of Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to the US.

Politics

3 d. ago UK ‘massively vulnerable’ to threat of Russia after decades of military cuts, ex

With Sir Keir Starmer under mounting pressure to boost the UK’s defence budget, General Sir Nick Carter said the UK’s ‘remarkably hollow’ Army would be unable to fend off Russia if it needed

Events

3 d. ago Keir Starmer urged to ramp up defence spending – UK politics live

This is ‘probably one of the most alarming times for Britain’s defence since the second world war’, says Lib Dem leader Ed Davey as he calls for more spendingHello and welcome to our rolling coverage of UK politics.The Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has said the government must swiftly ramp up defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP).I’ve never known a time like this, it is probably one of the most alarming times for Britain’s defence and security since the second world war, with our closest ally changing their position. So we have to debate it, it is going to be difficult.I don’t think there’s an easy solution, but we have put some ideas on the table. One idea we have put is to increase the digital services taxes, a tax on about 20 multinational companies with turnovers of over £500m and we would raise it from the current 2% to 10%.Foreign secretary David Lammy is in South Africa for the second day of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting.Scottish Labour leader Anas ...

Politics

4 d. ago Reeves ‘absolutely committed’ to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said an increase in spending in line with what Labour promised in its manifesto will be done ‘in the proper way’.

Politics

5 d. ago Denmark to spend billions on defence, citing fears over Russian rearmament

Mette Frederiksen says situation is ‘most dangerous’ in many years as she increases defence budget to 3% of GDPMette Frederiksen admitted that Denmark and other countries made a mistake by cutting their defence spending as she announced a 50bn Danish kroner (£5.5bn) package, saying: “It must never happen again.”The Danish prime minister increased defence spending to 3% of GDP in the next two years – up from 2.4% in 2024 – as she said Denmark needed a “massive rearmament” to avoid war. Continue reading...

Economics

7 d. ago Keir Starmer faces growing pressure to boost defence budget now to prepare British troops for Ukraine

The PM was warned that without hiking spending to at least 2.5 per cent of GDP within days, he risked failing to meet his promise that the UK will play a 'leading' role in keeping the peace in Ukraine.

Events

7 d. ago UK should be cautious after change in US policy over Ukraine, think tank says

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said European nations need to spend 5% of GDP on defence and would be responsible for peacekeeping in Ukraine.

Events