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.
What I said at the election in 2024 is that we would get to 2.5% and I was pressed time and again ‘what precise date’ and I said ‘as soon as I can be absolutely clear with a firm date, a firm commitment that we will keep to’, because I had seen the previous government make commitments about this percent or that percent with no plan behind it, I’m not going down that road.
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 precise date until I can be sure precisely where the money is coming from, how we can make good on that commitment, because I don’t believe in performative fantasy politics, and certainly not on defence and security.
Key events
Farage claims he is offering Scotland ‘down to earth pragmatism’, not racism
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, is in Scotland today, where he is holding a press conference in Aberdeen this morning and campaigning in Hamilton ahead of the byelection in the afternoon.
In an interview with the Scottish Sun published to coincide with the visit, Farage claims that Reform UK is offering “down to earth pragmatism”, not racism, as the SNP says. Farage told the Sun:
The Scottish establishment can hold me up to be the bogeyman, they’ll go on doing all those things.
But if people actually listen to what I have to say, they will not draw the conclusions that Swinney has drawn that this is somehow a racist, intolerant movement.
They’ll not draw the conclusion that I want to destroy the planet. What I’m offering people actually is down to earth pragmatism.
John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, explained why he saw Reform UK as racist in a speech in February. He has revived that line of attack recently, condemning a Reform advert attacking Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, as racist.
More than 2,000 UK medics, including top consultants, sign letter denouncing Israel’s ‘assault on healthcare’ in Gaza
Patrick Wintour
Patrick Wintour is the Guardian’s diplomatic editor.
More than 300 British health consultants and surgeons, as well as 1,100 NHS doctors, including many that have worked in Gaza, have joined forces to urge the Labour government to demand basic health services are protected and restored in Gaza.
In total 2,200 health workers have signed the open letter over the past three days that claims Israel is mounting a calculated assault on healthcare itself, as well as the Palestinian people.
It is one of the biggest interventions by UK health care professionals since the once total blockade of humanitarian aid started in March and came as the Middle East minister Hamish Falconer said the “reports of deaths near an aid delivery centre in Rafah were appalling and highlight the desperate need to get aid in”. The cause of the undenied mass casualties is disputed, with the Israeli Defence Forces insisting it was not involved.
The British health professionals include many who have volunteered to work in Gaza’s hospitals such as Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a plastic surgeon and professor of conflict studies.
In their open letter adddressed to Keir Starmer the medics say:
Israel must allow partners to operate in line with humanitarian principles and deliver lifesaving aid.
In our respective professions we uphold a commitment to dignified care-giving and the sanctity of human life. These moral and political commitments demand that we act, not only to treat illness and injury, but to prevent harm and redress the underlying determinants of injury, trauma, and poor health …
Essential clinical equipment has been repeatedly and meticulously destroyed by the Israeli military. Healthcare workers in Gaza and throughout occupied Palestine have been targeted, killed, injured, detained and tortured simply for providing healthcare.
This is not collateral damage – it is a calculated assault on healthcare itself, and on the future of the Palestinian people.
The authors of the letter urge the UK government not only back a complete arms embargo and a full ceasefire, but they also call for “unimpeded independent humanitarian access to independent neutral humanitarian agencies”.
The health workers also call for more Palestinian students to study in the UK, and for more Palestinian patients to be treated in UK healthcare.
Other signatories include: Prof Nick Maynard, consultant upper GI surgeon at Oxford University hospitals; Dr Rachel Clarke, palliative care physician and bestselling author; Prof Tim Goodacre, plastic surgeon; Dr Deborah Harrington, consultant in obstetrics and fetal medicine at Oxford University hospitals; and Dr Victoria Rose, consultant plastic surgeon at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital in London.
Some defence correspondents agree with Ed Davey and others who are saying the UK cannot wait until 2034 to raise defence spending to 3% of GDP.
This is from Deborah Haynes, the defence and security editor at Sky News.
PM @Keir_Starmer says he’s readying his military for war to deter Russia
Yet he’s unable to commit to lifting the defence budget to 3% of GDP by 2034 – a level that’s well short of what Donald Trump & the head of NATO are calling for
Allies/enemies will watch with dismay /glee
And this is from Shashank Joshi, defence editor at the Economist.
A 9-year timeline for 3% of GDP on defence—well outside OBR window, outside this Parliament & at upper boundary of Russian reconstitution timelines—and given new commitments incl 12 SSN-AUKUS, is unworkable and everyone knows it. Something has to give.
Ed Davey urges Starmer to convene cross-party talks on getting defence spending to 3% of GDP ‘as soon as possible’
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has criticised Keir Starmer for not setting a firm date for getting defence spending up to 3% of GDP. (See 8.24am.) Commenting on Starmer’s Today interview, Davey said:
Keir Starmer is showing a concerning lack of urgency on reaching 3%.
With Putin waging war, Trump undermining NATO and conflicts raging, we must deliver for our armed forces and Britain’s security in an increasingly unstable world. Anything less would be a dereliction of duty.
I once again urge the prime minister to convene cross-party talks to allow us to get to 3% as soon as possible, and faster than 2034.
Here is the clip of Keir Starmer in his Today programme interview refusing to say when the government will raise defence spending to 3% of GDP.
When will the UK spend 3% of GDP on defence?
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer tells @BBCNickRobinson he won’t set a precise date until he can be sure exactly ‘where the money is coming from’.#R4Today
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) June 2, 2025
In an interview with the Times published on Saturday John Healey, the defence secretary, said that he had “no doubt” that Britain would reach the 3% target by 2034 – ie, before the end of the next parliament. Yesterday he described this as an “ambition”.
The comment to the Times was not a firm, fiscal commitment. In February Keir Starmer said that he would definitely raise defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and that it was his “ambition” to get it up to 3% of GDP in the next parliament. Healey was basically just saying that he had “no doubt” the ambition would one day be achieved. But some of the Tory papers have claimed this amounts to a U-turn.
Q: When you saw the Ukraine drone attack on Russia, did you conclude it is not beaten?
Starmer says Ukraine is not beaten. Ever time he visits, he is taken aback by the courage and resilience of Ukrainians.
Ukraine is now “one of the strongest fighting forces in Europe”, he says.
Starmer declines to back calls for higher taxes, saying you can’t ‘tax yourself to growth’
Q: The Labour party wants you to spend more on welfare. Is that the reason you cannot commit to raising defence spending to 3% of GDP?
Starmer says he does not accept that characterisation.
He repeats the point about not being willing to make a commitment to 3% until he can explain how it will be funded.
We had a commitment for 2.5% by the end of this parliament. We pulled that right forward to 2027.
We showed that when we say there’s a new era of the defence and security of our country, is our first priority – as it is – that we meant it. We take the same approach to 3%.
But I’m not going to indulge in the fantasy politics of simply plucking dates from the air until I’m absolutely clear that I can sit here in an interview with you and tell you exactly how that’s going to work, because I take the defence and security of our country extremely seriously.
Q: Will you put taxes up to do this?
Starmer says the problem for the economy in recent years as been low growth. “I don’t think you can tax yourself to growth,” he says,
Q: But Gordon Brown knows that, and he thinks a £3bn tax on online gambling would still be justified.
Starmer says he is looking at non-tax measures to promote growth.
Starmer says he is ‘determined’ his government will bring down child poverty
Q: Do you agree with Gordon Brown that a Labour government should not deny a third child benefits?
Starmer says he is proud of the way the last Labour government drove down child poverty, and determined that his government will do.
He says he is “clear in his own mind … and determined that that is what we will do”.
Starmer suggests government may announce which pensioners will get winter fuel payments restored next week
Q: You have stuck to tough choices in some areas, like cutting aid spending. So why did you reverse the “tough choice” decision on cutting the winter fuel payment?
Starmer says the government had to take that decision because there was a black hole in the govenrment’s finances. But the economy has now stablised, he says.
Q: But the government has less money now than it had last year, not more money. And in Scotland the SNP government ruled out cutting winter fuel payments.
Starmer again says that the government had to fill a £22bn black hole in the government finances.
Q: Why won’t you tell us now what you will do to reverse the decision?
Starmer says he will have to be clear where the money is coming from. He goes on:
But I take your point, which is that if we want to look again at which pensioners are eligible, then the sooner we have clarity on that, the better.
Q: There is a spending review next week.
Starmer says there are “lots of moving parts” in the spending review.
Robinson says he is taking that answer as meant that “we won’t have to wait until the winter” until we learn how the government intends to restore the winter fuel payment. Starmer does not challenge that.
This is significant because two weeks ago, when Starmer announced his winter fuel payments U-turn, he said details of how the government intends to increase elibiligity for it again would not be announced until the next fiscal event. At the time government sources said that meant until the budget in the autumn.
The winter fuel payment used to be paid to all pensioners, but last year it was restricted to just the 1.5 million who claim pension credit.
Setting a higher threshold is complicated. One theory is that the government will restore it to all pensioners, but use the tax system to recoup it from higher-rate taxpayers.
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.
What I said at the election in 2024 is that we would get to 2.5% and I was pressed time and again ‘what precise date’ and I said ‘as soon as I can be absolutely clear with a firm date, a firm commitment that we will keep to’, because I had seen the previous government make commitments about this percent or that percent with no plan behind it, I’m not going down that road.
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 precise date until I can be sure precisely where the money is coming from, how we can make good on that commitment, because I don’t believe in performative fantasy politics, and certainly not on defence and security.
Q: But it is more than a phrase. Are you saying you think you might have to send British troops to fight to defend a county like Lithuania?
Starmer replies: “I very much hope not.”
But the country has to prepare, he says.
He says people did not expect to see a European country invaded. But then Russia invaded Ukraine.
Q: There is talk of having planes that can deliver nuclear weapons. Won’t that make nuclear war more likely?
Starmer says he does not want to talk about the proposal for air-launched nuclear weapons. (The Sunday Times said yesterday Starmer is considering this as an option.)
Q: But we know that in the past governments like Callaghan’s have lied about their nuclear programmes. Can you assure us you are not preparing for nuclear escalation?
Starmer says the nuclear deterrent has kept the peace for 80 years. That is why the UK is fully committed to Nato, he says.
Nato has been the single most effective alliance for keeping the peace for 80 years, and our job is not just to celebrate that as we do, but to ask ourselves the searching question as I ask myself on a daily basis, which is, how do we ensure that Nato preserves the peace for decades to come for this generation?
Starmer interviewed on Today programme
Nick Robinson is interviewing Keir Starmer on the Today programme now.
Q: What do you mean when you say you want the UK to be “war ready”?
Starmer says the world has changed.
There is greater instability on defence and security than there has been for many, many years, and greater threats, and that’s obviously having a direct impact back into the United Kingdom. Hence the review. I wanted a review that told me the challenges we’re actually facing and likely to face for the foreseeable future.
Starmer says the best way to prevent conflict is to deter it. That is why Nato is so important, he says.
Starmer to announce commissioning of up to 12 new attack submarines
As mentioned earlier, the Ministry of Defence has been trailing parts of the strategic defence review for days. Here are three press releases they issued last week and over the weekend.
And here is an extract from the news release issued overnight, saying Keir Starmer will announce the commissioning of up to 12 new attack submarines. The MoD says:
The prime minister will announce … that the UK’s conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine fleet will be significantly expanded, with up to 12 new SSN-AUKUS boats to be built.
The increase in submarines will transform the UK’s submarine building industry and, following the £15 billion investment in the warhead programme outlined, will deliver on this government’s Plan for Change, supporting 30,000 highly skilled jobs up-and-down the country well into the 2030s, as well as helping work to deliver 30,000 apprenticeships and 14,000 graduate roles across the next ten years.
The announcement comes as the government unveils its new strategic defence review tomorrow. The externally-led review is expected to recommend that our armed forces move to warfighting readiness to deter the growing threats faced by the UK. The report makes 62 recommendations, which the government is expected to accept in full.
Keir Starmer to unveil strategic defence review and put UK on ‘war-fighting readiness’
Good morning. In his great history of 20th century Britain, The Rise and Fall of the British Nation, David Edgerton uses the phrase “warfare state” to describe the UK under the post-war Attlee government, and its successors. He does so to make the point that, although we think of that period as the era of the welfare state, defence spending was still huge (around 10% of GDP in the early 1950s). Keir Starmer is not going to get anywhere close to that, but “warfare state” still feels like a useful term to describe at least the direction in which he wants to shove Britain, as the strategic defence review being published today will indicate.
Starmer will be interviewed on the Today programme shortly. Here is Dan Sabbagh’s overnight preview story on what the defence review will say.
And here is Dan’s analysis, based on what we know so far about the document (which is quite a lot, because the Ministry of Defence has been trailing bits of it for days).
Here is the agenda for the day.
8.10am: Keir Starmer is interviewed on the Today programme.
9.30am: The Speaker’s Conference on the security of candidates publishes an interim report.
10am: Starmer launches the strategic defence review at an event in Glasgow, where he will be taking questions from journalists.
10am: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, holds a press conference in Aberdeen. Later, in the afternoon, he will be campaigning in Hamilton, where there is a Scottish parliamentary byelection on Thursday.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
2.30pm: Yvette Cooper, home secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
After 3.10pm: Peers debate Commons amendments to the data (use and access) bill, in the latest stage in the stand-off between the two chambers over AI and copywright law.
After 3.30pm: John Healey, the defence secretary, makes a statement to MPs about the strategic defence review.
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