A large increase over the next six years indicates what Britain will do in its defense spending, to reach a level equal to 2.5% of GDP per year, that is, well above the 2% goal of NATO.
This was announced today by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak from Poland, where he is visiting, stating that an “axis of authoritarian states, such as Russia, Iran and China, are emerging that are increasingly working together to undermine democracies and redesign the world order”.
Britain thus sets the goal of going from 64.6 billion pounds this year (2.3% of GDP), to 67.5 billion in 2025, to 71 billion in 2026, and then with a new, more rapid increase, to reach 87.1 billion a year in 2030. That is, about 75 billion extra in total, over a period of six years!
The financing of these costs is now proposed to be done through rationalization of the budget and mainly through a reduction in the number of civil servants until 2029, where they will be around 70,000 less than this year. This alone will provide about 2/3 of the increase, with the rest being a transfer of funds earmarked for research and development.
Of course, such spending assumes that Britain will be on a growth trajectory in general and will produce wealth, something that must be proven in practice, as the economic forecasts are not very optimistic. Even Sunak is in a steep decline in popularity, while the country will hold elections in early 2025 (or even earlier), so all of the above must be reconsidered if there is a change of government. Plus, of course, the expected social reactions, as a large part of the population cannot cope with the constant price increases, the lack of housing, the reduction of real wages and incomes, the degradation of the NHS, i.e. the national health system and much more (reminiscent of the Greek case).
However, the increased spending is said to go, among others, to strengthen air defense, for hypersonic weapons, for laser weapons, for the volume of artillery ammunition, and so on. A large investment will be made in the productive defense infrastructure, in the increase of the relevant research and development which will absorb 5% of the annual defense budget, as well as in the continued support of Ukraine, for which, again today, Sunak announced a large reinforcement with thousands missiles, armor and credits. He described the increase in Britain’s defense spending as “a turning point for European security and a landmark for British defence, and a once-in-a-generation investment in British security and prosperity”.
