Many have welcomed Starmer’s pledge to boost defence spending to 2.5% by 2027, though, as Guido has pointed out, the maths doesn’t quite add up. Slashing foreign aid to 0.3% still leaves a £7.2 billion hole to fill…
Starmer has admitted that this defence uplift now includes “intelligence and security service spending” – not an insignificant amount of the defence budget. Now government sources are staying tight-lipped on whether the £18 billion price tag for the Chagos surrender deal—needed to lease the US-UK military base at Diego Garcia—is factored in, insisting they won’t be drawn into Chagos discussions. Won’t quash accusations that Starmer is fudging the numbers…
UPDATE: Shadow Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois tells Guido:
“As we have been pressing the Government for months to increase Defence spending, we welcome today’s announcement. However, we would like reassurance that none of this uplift is linked to payments for a Chagos deal, which, if it’s heavily front-loaded, could eat up a significant chunk of that, at least in the early years.”
Red Wall Labour backbencher Jonathan Brash told GB News that Starmer should resign:
“I’m completely fed up about it, and I think it’s got to the point now where I genuinely think that, as far as the Prime Minister is concerned, it’s not a case of if, it’s when.”