NATO Summit to Force UK Defence Spending Hike to 3.5% by 2035 – Guido Fawkes

NATO Summit to Force UK Defence Spending Hike to 3.5% by 2035

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The MoD is hitting back at the Cabinet’s obfuscation on reaching 3% of GDP on defence by 2034. Two briefings from the department have landed concurrently in The Times and Sky News which spell out that the UK will be forced to commit to spend a larger 3.5% on defence at the NATO summit later this month. 24 to 25 June…

“Senior figures in the Ministry of Defence have been left baffled by Sir Keir Starmer’s position on spending — namely to avoid committing to spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence in the next parliament. A senior defence source said Britain would “without a doubt” have to sign up to a much higher target in three weeks’ time at the Nato summit in the Hague.”

This is just over a day after Starmer’s speech in which he took serious flak from journalists for failing to say that reaching 3% was anything more than an “ambition.” The Strategic Defence Review relies on it…

The Treasury’s failure to sign off on the 3% figure is set to be kiboshed later this month at the major summit at The Hague where Mark Rutte will force wide agreement – pre-agreed with Trump – to reach the 3.5% target. Two years later than initially planned anyway…

The Treasury will probably avoid costing 3.5% for as long as possible too. There is tension between the MoD and Downing Street. Verging on a hot war now…