Starmer defends not putting date on 3% defence spending target as UK to announce plans to build new submarines – politics live | Politics
By: Andrew Sparrow | Published: 2025-06-02 07:53:00 | Source: www.theguardian.com
Starmer defends not yet setting firm date for lifting defence spending to 3% of GDP, saying he rejects ‘fantasy politics’
Starmer repeats his claim that he has an ambition to get defence spending up to 3% of GDP in the next parliament.
Q: But “ambition” is not a commitment. I can have a commitment to lose weight. That does not mean it will happen.
Starmer defends not making a firm commitment.
He says, during the election campaign, he said he wanted defence spending to rise to 2.5% of GDP, but did not set a date because he did not have a plan for achieving that.
He only set a date for 2.5% when he had an economic plan for achieving it.
He goes on:
What you can take from this is, yes, that 3% but I am not, as the prime minister of a Labour government, going to make a commitment as to the…
