Nato will force UK to lift defence spending for Trump, sources say

Britain will be forced to commit to raising defence spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035 after a campaign by the Nato secretary general to keep Donald Trump onboard, sources say.

- Dan Sabbagh

A senior insider said the UK would "without a doubt" agree to a proposal from Mark Rutte that would represent a real-terms increase of about £30bn above existing spending plans.

The source expressed surprise that Keir Starmer had tied himself up over spending at the launch of the strategic defence review on Monday, when he refused to set a firm date when budgets would increase to 3%.

The prime minister has agreed to increase defence spending from 2.33% of GDP to 2.5% by 2027 and to 3% some time in the next parliament.

Starmer told the BBC he would not agree to "performative fantasy politics" and pluck a date out of the air as to when the UK would meet the 3% target, even though the call from Nato is for a higher figure.

Downing Street did not comment yesterday but pointed to comments made by Starmer on Monday during a visit to the BAE shipyard in Glasgow in which he appeared to acknowledge the higher target.