Why is Rishi Sunak increasing military spending?

Global military expenditure has reached a record high of £1,970bn (Picture: Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images)

Rishi Sunak has vowed to spend billions more public cash on defence, citing the growing threat of “an axis of authoritarian states”.

Speaking in Warsaw this week, the Prime Minister said the UK was contending with an “increasingly dangerous world” and the country’s defence spending would rise to 2.5% of national output (from the current 2.1%) by 2030.

It will mean that in six years, Britain will be spending £87bn-a-year – so just why is the PM increasing defence spending?

Why is the government boosting defence spending?

The move is aimed at countering the dangers from states like Russia, Iran and China. It will make the UK the second-largest contributor to NATO after the US.

It comes as Vladimir Putin continues Russia’s offensive on Ukraine and after the US House of Representatives approved a $61bn for Volodymyr Zelensky’s fightback, Israel and other US allies.

Nato members’ defence spending by percentage – click to enlarge (Picture: Metro.co.uk)

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NATO general secretary Jens Stoltenberg, who was also speaking in Poland, said Europe was at a “turning point” and encouraged other states to match the UK’s commitment.

“In a world that is the most dangerous it has been since the end of the Cold War, we cannot be complacent. As our adversaries align, we must do more to defend our country, our interests, and our values,” he said.

Sunak said the funding boost, which includes a £3bn-a-year commitment to Ukraine, put the UK’s defence industry on a “war footing”.

However, he added: “We must not overstate the danger. We’re not on the brink of war. And nor do we seek it.”

What has Labour said?

If the polls are correct, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer could be the UK’s Prime Minister this time next year.

In an intervention earlier this month, Starmer said that a government he leads would boost defence spending to 2.5% “as soon as resources allow”.

Keir Starmer has said that a nuclear deterrent is ‘absolutely vital and needed’ for Britain (Picture: PA)

Speaking to the i newspaper, he said defence was “the number one issue for any government” due to the increasing number of international threats.

Labour frontbencher Steve Reed has since said the party “would want to match” the government’s timescale for the spending rise.

He also said he would make Britain’s nuclear deterrent, the Trident programme, the “bedrock” of the UK’s security plan.

What does this mean for the UK economy and the cost of living crisis?

The increase in defence spending would be funded by plans already announced by the government to reduce the size of the civil service.

Specifically, it would mean trimming £2.9bn from Whitehall budgets and shifting £1.6bn of the existing research and development budget to be spent on defence research.

Downing Street has urged ‘other major European NATO economies to follow’ (Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images)

As usual, ministers did not set out how they would fund the changes after 2028/29 as the current fiscal forecasts do not cover that period and the nation’s finances may improve, or get worse.

Some have complained that, if any spare money can be found at all, it should be spent on helping people struggling with the cost of living.

Sunak and Starmer have both pointed out that defence is the first duty of government and the announcement could mean the creation of jobs in defence.

There is no change to the current cost of living support but some economists, including the Resolution Foundation’s Torsten Bell, have said the plans, as set out, are a “fiscal fiction” and will mean compromises further down the road after an election.

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