BRITAIN’S wasteful foreign aid budget is to finally be slashed — with billions of pounds diverted to defence instead.
Sir Keir Starmer yesterday increased military spending by £6billion a year, saying Britain has to “fight for peace”.
Britain’s wasteful foreign aid budget is to be slashed — with billions diverted to defence instead – pictured, aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth[/caption]
Sir Keir Starmer yesterday increased military spending by £6billion[/caption]
Britain has to ‘fight for peace’, says Starmer – pictured, an RAF F-35B Lightning aircraft[/caption]
It comes after the Sun revealed aid was being squandered on crazy projects including a study on prawn health.
Starmer yesterday warned that “tyrants like Putin only respond to strength”, as he vowed to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on the military by 2027.
Explaining his decision, Sir Keir insisted the world is at a “moment where we have to fight for peace, through the action that we take” amid US threats to call time on its funding for Europe’s security.
But he denied the timing of the announcement was due to his meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington DC tomorrow.
Sir Keir claimed the decision to increase defence spending has been “three years in the making” ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He added: “I think we’ve known that this decision had to be taken.”
Labour will raise the defence budget to 2.5 per cent of GDP within two years — and then three per cent after the next election.
That will add £13billion a year to military spending from 2027.
But only £6billion is actually new money, calculated as the difference between spending 2.3 per cent and 2.5 per cent of domestic output.
Part of the increase will be funded by cutting £6billion from the foreign aid budget, reducing it from 0.5 to 0.3 per cent of GDP.
Aid charities and Labour MPs said they were shocked but Sir Keir defended the bold move.
He told a No10 press conference it “is not a decision I wanted to make” but that it was “necessary for the protection of our country”.
Sir Keir said there was a security imperative but insisted it was also a tremendous opportunity.
He went on: “Unless Ukraine is properly protected from Putin then Europe will only become more unstable — and that will hurt us even more. So today I have announced the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War.”
The move comes before Sir Keir’s showdown with Mr Trump, who has warned European nations to increase defence budgets rather than rely on American cash.
Asked if he was under pressure from the White House, Sir Keir replied: “I think in our heart of hearts we’ve all known that this decision has been coming for three years, since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. The last few weeks have accelerated my thinking on when we needed to make this announcement. Because it is absolutely clear the decision that started life three years ago needs to be taken now to rise to the challenge that we have to face.”
Tyrants like Putin only respond to strength. If we do not achieve a lasting peace then the economic instability, the threats to our security, will only grow
Keir Starmer
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly hailed the hike as a “great leadership step”.
The Sun understands UK Defence Secretary John Healey called him moments after the announcement in Parliament.
The PM told MPs: “I know this House will endorse the idea of achieving peace through strength.
“Russia is a menace in our waters, in our airspace and on our streets. Instability in Europe will always wash up on our shores.
Barrow’s new Trident sub to be named HMS Dreadnought[/caption]
A Storm Shadow missile[/caption]
“Tyrants like Putin only respond to strength.
“If we do not achieve a lasting peace then the economic instability, the threats to our security, will only grow.
“When I meet President Trump, I will be clear I want this relationship to go from strength to strength, but strength in this world also depends on a new alliance with Europe.”
Sir Keir also vowed the boost will “translate into British growth, British jobs, British skills . . . to rebuild our industrial base”.
On Sunday Britain will convene a meeting of European leaders for talks on aid for Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and bolstering armies across the continent.
Sir Keir had already pledged to raise military spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP but refused to lay out a timetable.
He was under mounting pressure from the US, Nato, military top brass and the Tories.
There was also a renewed urgency after his vow to send Brit peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.
The announcement sparked fury among Labour MPs.
Such a weak commitment to our security and nation puts us all at risk
Former Tory Defence Secretary Ben Wallace
The Sun understands some left-wingers considered quitting the Government.
International Development Committee chair Sarah Champion said: “Cutting the aid budget to fund defence spending is a false economy that will only make the world less safe.
“I am bitterly disappointed.”
Lib Dem MP Mike Martin, an Afghan war veteran, reckoned: “Deterrence is the name of the game.
“But we have been sending all the wrong signals.”
Former Tory Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned: “Such a weak commitment to our security and nation puts us all at risk.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch tried to claim credit for the decision to raise spending, insisting: “Over the weekend I wrote to the Prime Minister, letting him know he would have the support of my party to make difficult decisions.”
Richard Dannatt, former Chief of the General Staff, told Times Radio that while he welcomes an increase in defence spending, taking from the aid budget is a “soft touch.”
On Sunday Britain will convene a meeting of European leaders for talks on aid for Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky[/caption]
Starmer will meet with President Donald Trump in Washington DC tomorrow[/caption]
Your cash for crazy schemes
THE Sun last week revealed shocking examples of how UK foreign aid was being squandered while our armed forces stood depleted.
They included a £133,000 taxpayer-funded study of shrimp health in Bangladesh.
The Foreign Office paid a contractor £9.5million last December to support “accountability and inclusion” in war-ravaged Democratic Republic of the Congo.
It also funded a £110,000 conference on “preventing gender-based disinformation” in Kenya.
A £30million budget was provided for “enhancing gender outcomes” in Nepal, running until 2030.
No10 said it was ordering a line-by-line review of all government spending.
Fixing black holes
THE MoD has refused to say how it will spend its extra £6billion a year as it waits to release a review on how to reshape UK forces.
A chunk will help plug a £17billion black hole in the existing plan to buy ships, jets and tanks.
Some will go on replacing kit and munitions donated to Ukraine, and more will be lost to repairing creaking facilities and infrastructure, including soldiers’ homes.
However Malcolm Chalmers from the RUSI think tank hailed the PM’s announcement.
He said the pledge to hit three per cent in the next parliament will help defence chiefs transform “how our military fights”.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly called it “excellent” and a “great leadership step” in a call with his UK counterpart.
Afghan veteran Mike Martin said the first priority will be to “make sure what we have got works”.
When it comes to new kit and equipment, the Lib Dem MP for Tunbridge Wells said chiefs will focus on “how we do collective defence without the Americans”.
