Starmer vows to spend 2.5pc of GDP on Armed Forces

LABOUR will aim to raise defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP if the party wins the election, Sir Keir Starmer has promised.

It is the first time the opposition leader has said he wants to spend that amount on the military, which would match the Government’s existing aim.

In an interview with the i newspaper, he said defence was “the No 1 issue for any government” and admitted a more dangerous world made it necessary to spend more on the Armed Forces.

However, he said Labour would only spend the extra money if it is within the party’s borrowing rules.

Sir Keir will also double down on the party’s commitment to Britain’s nuclear deterrent today when he visits Barrow-in-furness in Cumbria, where nuclear submarines are made.

He is announcing a new “triple lock” commitment, which proposes that a Labour government would build at least four new nuclear submarines at Barrow, keep the continuous at-sea deterrent and fund any future upgrades needed to the fleet. He told the newspaper: “On defence spending, obviously we want to get to 2.5 per cent as soon as resources allow that to happen.

“That was the position when Labour left government and we absolutely stand by our commitment to Nato.”

Speaking of the triple lock commitment in a separate article for the Daily Mail, he wrote: “First, we will make a cast-iron commitment to build all four new Dreadnought nuclear subs here in the UK, in Barrow-in-furness. “Second, we will pledge to maintain Britain’s continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent. Third, we’ll promise to deliver all future upgrades needed. We’ll ensure our nuclear deterrent is properly equipped and armed to face the challenges of the decades to come.

“Make no mistake, this is a generational, multi-decade commitment.”

It is a contrast to the policy of his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, who has repeatedly called for Britain’s nuclear arsenal to be scrapped.

Responding to Labour’s commitment on nuclear deterrence, Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary, said: “Sir Keir Starmer and John Healey tried twice to put Corbyn in charge of the Armed Forces. Labour is not the party to be trusted with our nation’s defences.”