Key facts
- The UK must make significant public sector spending cuts to finance defense pledges.
- Defense spending commitments must be funded from domestic budgets, not new borrowing.
- The UK needs an additional £36 billion annually to meet NATO's 2035 spending target of 3.5% of GDP.
- Current defense spending is 2.4% of GDP.
- The government has committed to increasing defense spending to 3% of GDP.
Former NATO chief George Robertson warned that the United Kingdom will need to implement substantial cuts to public sector spending to finance its defense commitments. Speaking at a conference in London, Robertson, who co-wrote the UK's Strategic Defence Review, stated that there is no alternative to drawing funds from domestic budgets, as there are no surplus funds available. He highlighted that the country's high interest costs also preclude further borrowing as a viable option.
Robertson outlined the significant financial challenge, noting that the UK would require an additional £36 billion annually to meet NATO's 2035 target of 3.5% of GDP for defense spending, compared to the 2.4% spent last year. He contrasted this sum with the total budgets for education (£95 billion), the Home Office (£20 billion), transport (£28 billion), and justice (£12 billion) to illustrate the scale of the commitment.
Despite Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy reaffirming Prime Minister Keir Starmer's promise for defense spending to reach 3% of GDP, Robertson argued that the full cost implications have not been transparently communicated. He stressed that increasing defense spending is unavoidable given the escalating threat from Russia and urged members of the Labour Party with pacifist leanings to accept the necessity of preparing for war. Robertson also expressed concern that the public is currently too complacent about the existing dangers and the UK's lack of preparedness.