Dear Keir Starmer & the UK Government,
As a member of NATO, the UK is committed to spending 2% of GDP on defence, but the latest NATO figures show that Britain actually spent more than that last year – 2.3%, the highest in Europe.
In the 2023/24 financial year, the UK spent £54.2 billion on defence, which is expected to rise to £57.1 billion in 2024/25, according to official government estimates. This is a 4.5% increase in real terms.
It’s incredible then, when our public services and infrastructure are in crisis, our schools and hospitals crumbling, homelessness soaring and the Labour government has just inherited a massive financial shortfall from the Tories, that the prime minister is intent on increasing arms spending to 2.5% of GDP.
Increased military spending won’t make us any safer. We demand that our money is spent instead on improving the lives of people – on better services, climate protection and on promoting peace, not on escalating deadly conflicts.