Starmer readies order to raise defence spending, Sunday Times reports

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is preparing to overrule his finance minister Rachel Reeves and order more defence spending, after the United States demanded that Europe pays more for its security, the Sunday Times reported.

Citing sources, the newspaper said Starmer is due to fly to Washington next week to speak with US President Donald Trump, with an announcement due as early as Monday. Starmer’s Labour government has committed to raising defence spending to 2.5 percent of economic output from around 2.3 percent now but has not yet set out a timetable.

Reeves, who is preparing a major spending review, already faces a challenge to deliver promises to improve public services and raise economic growth without running afoul of her fiscal rules - which look at risk of being breached.

“In the end, it’s the prime minister’s decision on national security. This one does sit with the PM,” the Sunday Times quoted a Starmer ally as saying. “We know we have to set out when we’re getting to 2.5 percent. The defence and security review will still do what we needed to do.”

The prime minister’s office was not immediately available for comment. Starmer on Saturday said his country would work to ensure the US and Europe remained together and that they should not allow divisions to distract them from “external enemies”. His comments came after Trump’s Ukraine envoy told the Munich Security Conference that Europe would not have a seat at the table for Ukraine peace talks.