UK PM pledges to spend 2.5 percent of GDP on defense by 2027

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday pledged to boost defense spending to 2.5 percent of the economy by 2027 with the aim of hiking it to 3 percent in the next parliament. 

Ahead of key talks on Ukraine with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday, Starmer told parliament the increase would be funded by cutting overseas development aid from 0.5 percent to 0.3 percent of the economy. 

Trump has demanded that NATO allies more than double their defense spending targets to five percent of economic output. The UK spent 2.3 percent of gross domestic product on defense in 2023/24. The government would also "set a clear ambition for defense spending to rise to 3 percent of GDP in the next parliament," he said.