Starmer considers faster defence build-up ahead of Trump talks

Sir Keir Starmer is considering boosting defence spending sooner than previously thought as he prepares for talks with Donald Trump this week.

The Prime Minister is understood to be weighing up the possibility of increasing military spending from 2.3 to 2.5 per cent of GDP before 2030 – the Tories’ previous target.

One option, previously pushed by Sir Ben Wallace the former Conservative defence secretary, would be to bring forward a boost to 2028.

Every year the target is brought forward it is expected to add £6 billion to the defence Budget, economists say, putting greater pressure on the already-stretched public finances.

The Prime Minister is set to tell the US president on Thursday that Britain is ready to “step up” and play a greater role in ensuring Europe bankrolls its own security.

On Saturday, he held a flurry of phone calls with EU leaders, including Ursula von der Leyen, to drum up continent-wide support for increasing military budgets.

Simon Case, who until two months ago was the UK’s most senior civil servant, said Sir Keir could be expected to go to Washington armed with a plan for how the UK will compel Europe to get a grip on its own defence.

Writing for The Telegraph, he said that both Sir Keir and Emmanuel Macon, the French president who will also sit down with Mr Trump this week, can be expected to “have done their homework” and to be taking “private plans to show their determination to force European Nato members to move fast to end the European naivety over what it takes to deliver effective collective self-defence”.

It came as Rachel Reeves threw her weight behind more defence spending after the US said that guaranteeing European security was no longer its priority.

The Chancellor told The Telegraph that the “old certainties we have relied on are shifting” and that she was “absolutely committed” to increase the budget to 2.5 per cent.

Mr Case added: “There is an opportunity ahead for Starmer with one or two other European leaders to help set desperately needed, new contours in European security within Nato. This is a huge test, but one that it looks like he is studying for.”

Mr Trump has repeatedly lambasted Europe over its low defence spending and insisted that countries should commit 5 per cent of their GDP.

Mr Macron, who will visit the US president on Monday, said last week that France was considering more than doubling its spending to 5 per cent.

On Saturday, Sir Keir spoke to Mrs Von der Leyen, the EU Commission president, about increasing defence spending ahead of his trip to Washington.

The pair agreed on the need to “step up for the good of collective European security”, Downing Street said.

He also spoke on the phone to Alexander Stubb, the president of Finland, and Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian leader.

In the call with Mr Zelensky, the Prime Minister said he would relay to Mr Trump “that Ukraine must be at the heart of any negotiations to end the war”.

In a message to mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion on Sunday, David Lammy said it was “time to turn the screws on Putin’s Russia”.

The Foreign Secretary said he would announce “the largest package of sanctions against Russia” since the early days of the war in February 2022.

There has been no official confirmation the Prime Minister will bring forward the defence-spend boost plans, but government sources did not deny it was under consideration.

One minister told The Mail on Sunday that “we’re not going to wait until 2030” to hit the target, adding: “A new timeframe is going to be announced.”

A separate report from ITV suggested the Prime Minister was considering whether to ramp up to 2.5 per cent immediately or do it gradually over two to four years.

Sir Keir is expected to tell Mr Trump that Europe can take responsibility for any peacekeeping mission in Ukraine but there will need to be a US “backstop”.

He is set to argue that Washington’s involvement will be the only way to deter Vladimir Putin from reinvading the country once his forces have replenished.

EU sources told The Telegraph that recent statements by the White House had also shifted the urgency of doing a defence deal with the UK.

Brussels is set to improve its security offer, tabled five years ago, with one insider warning that “just creating another talking shop won’t be enough”.

Options on the table include UK participation in EU-wide arms programmes, such as on the development of new swarm drones and robots.

Britain could also join EU peacekeeping missions in the Balkans, with a source saying it was “inevitable this entire situation will bring us closer together”.

Kemi Badenoch has written to the Prime Minister urging him to pay for increased defence spending by ditching the Chagos Islands giveaway.

In the letter the Tory leader said money should also be cut from the welfare bill and the foreign aid budget and funnelled into the military.

She warned that Sir Keir’s decision to delay an announcement has had “serious consequences” and that “there is no time for further delay”.

“We should have spent recent months increasing our domestic defence production,” she wrote. “Procuring munitions, equipment or weapons takes time.”

The Prime Minister had initially planned to set out the “pathway” to reaching 2.5 per cent when his defence spending review concludes in the spring.

But he is now expected to bring that announcement forward to coincide with his US visit.

Writing for The Sun on Sunday, Sir Keir said: “President Trump is right that European nations must now take greater responsibility for our security.

“We must increase our defence spending, as we’ve promised here in the UK. We must play a bigger role in Nato. We have talked about this for long enough. Now it is time for action.”