Nato head: Britain must show ‘credible path’ of annual defence budget increases
He saw Burnham on Wednesday, at a business park in Didcot, and also met representatives from the defence industry.Keir Starmer signed the UK up to a Nato-wide target of increasing defence spending to 3.5% of GDP in the summer of 2025, under pressure from the US president, Donald Trump. The figure has since been endorsed by Burnham and his chancellor, former defence secretary John Healey.Current spending plans, covering until 2028/9, show defence spending levelling off at 2.7%, nearly £30bn below the ultimate target, raising the question of how it would be achieved after the next general election. It is unclear if taxes or borrowing would have to rise, or other government spending cuts.Healey resigned as defence minister in June because Starmer would not commit to lifting defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030.
- ▪He saw Burnham on Wednesday, at a business park in Didcot, and also met representatives from the defence industry.Keir Starmer signed the UK up to a Nato-wide target of increasing defence spending to 3.5% of GDP in the summer of 2025, under
- ▪The figure has since been endorsed by Burnham and his chancellor, former defence secretary John Healey.Current spending plans, covering until 2028/9, show defence spending levelling off at 2.7%, nearly £30bn below the ultimate target, raisi
- ▪It is unclear if taxes or borrowing would have to rise, or other government spending cuts.Healey resigned as defence minister in June because Starmer would not commit to lifting defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030.
2 outlets in our directory ran this story, first to last over 2 hours. All of the coverage we found sits in one bucket: centre. That one-sidedness is itself worth noticing.
- ▪ UK needs 'credible path' on defence spending, says Nato chief — BBC News — Politics
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| Publication time | Thu, 17 Sep 2026 19:29:44 GMT |
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Nato’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, spoke with the Press Association following meetings with Ed Miliband and Wes Streeting Photograph: The Ditchley Foundation/PAView image in fullscreenNato’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, spoke with the Press Association following meetings with Ed Miliband and Wes Streeting Photograph: The Ditchley Foundation/PANatoNato head: Britain must show ‘credible path’ of annual defence budget increasesMark Rutte said Britain will need to steadily increase defence spending to meet Nato target of 3.5% of GDP by 2035Dan SabbaghThu 17 Sep 2026 15.29 EDTLast modified on Thu 17 Sep 2026 15.30 EDTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleBritain needs to show “a credible path” of annual increases in its defence budgets to meet a Nato target of spending nearly £30bn more on…
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