"Ten years of rising defence investment" - UK commits to huge Royal Navy, Army and RAF spending figure by Nato

Defence secretary John Healey confirmed today (July 2) that the UK will be meeting a higher Nato funding target. All members of the alliance have been told to set aside five per cent of GDP for defence - 3.5 per cent on core spending and 1.5 per cent on related matters.

Labour politicians previously focused on a 2.5 per cent total figure to meet the growing needs of the armed forces and worsening security threats which face the nation. This was alongside an “ambition” to reach three per cent by the next parliament, without giving a timeframe. The Strategic Defence Review, published last month, was written to the accordance of that degree of investment.

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer told the public about the Nato pledge alongside plans to buy 12 new F-35A fighter jets. Speaking to the defence select committee, Mr Healey clarified what Nato asked its members to commit to.

He said: “For the first time, that’s a five per cent commitment in ten years time, a benchmark figure if you like for all 32 nations to see that core defence spending and that wider national security spending hit five per cent. That’s a benchmark we have welcomed, argued for, and signed up to as a government.”

Committee chairman Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, Labour MP for Slough, asked if that spending will be tapered. “Should we expect further increases in this parliament, beyond those set out at the Spending Review by the chancellor?”

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Mr Healey responded: “What you should expect and what the country can look forward to is that defence can plan for the first time is ten years of rising defence investment. A certainty and profile which no one serving in uniform today has in their careers experienced.

“In this parliament, we set out exactly how we will fund the commitments we made. The extra £5bn boost this year, our first full year in government, the 2.5 per cent that will be reached by 2027 by switching money directly from overseas development aid budget into defence.

“It was a tough decision we took because of the importance in meeting threats we face. Then an ambition to reach three per cent in the next parliament, alongside that benchmark we have now endorsed a five per cent national security spend as part of our Nato commitment.”

Jesse Norman, Conservative MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire, said the current rise set out in the spending review for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is 0.7 per cent every year for the next three years.

“Given that defence inflation will be higher than regular inflation for reasons we know, this effectively means that the actual amount of new spending that can be occurred on readiness will be at least static. How are you going to fund things like the massive increase in drones to meet lethality targets for the armed forces?”

Mr Healey said many things become possible with the rising level of investment, but not everything. He added that drones and autonomy was a priority set out in the SDR, with £4bn being set aside for it - more than double the previous budget. The Labour politician said it will be a big contribution to the forces and make them stronger at deterring any adversaries.