Rachel Reeves Says Defence Spending Boost Is ‘Not Just A One-Off’

The government’s boost to defence spending is “not just a one-off,” Rachel Reeves has said.

Labour announced last week that it is planning to increase the defence budget from 2.3% of GDP to 2.5% by 2027 – and hoping to reach 3% by the next parliament – as Europe looks to strengthen its security amid the Ukraine war.

The move has sparked some backlash because the government decided to take from the international aid budget – reducing it from 0.5% to 0.3% – to make the numbers add up.

And now the chancellor has suggested there could be further increases to defence further down the line.

Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Reeves said: “When Keir and I discussed about how we were going to make sure this money was available, we wanted to be really clear because also it’s not a one-off.”

Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby then pointed out that the government did not have much of a choice after Donald Trump called on Nato members to boost defence spending, telling Europe it could no longer rely on the US for support.

But Reeves insisted that this was “something [we’ve] been working on for, for for quite a while now”, although she did admit the “world has changed” in recent weeks.

She continued: “I thought it was very important that you can’t just borrow to fund this additional spending, because this is not just a one-off thing.

“We’re going to have to keep spending at these elevated levels.

“We’re going to have to take it further.

“The prime minister said in his statement to parliament that subject to economic and fiscal circumstances, we want to get to 3% of GDP in the next parliament.

“So you can’t just borrow to fund something like that because this is ongoing expenditure, and that’s why we made the decision to reduce development spending and put that money inside our defence budget.”

Reeves’ remarks will likely raise eyebrows considering MPs’ recent pleas for the government to reconsider its cuts to foreign aid. 

The chancellor is also planning deep spending cuts to balance the country’s books.

It’s thought she has the UK’s soaring welfare bill – along with other unprotected government departments – in her sights ahead of her Spring Forecast at the end of this month.