UK’s Starmer seeks nuclear build-up in sweeping military revamp
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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain will move to a position of “war-fighting readiness” during an interview on June 2.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer outlined a sweeping overhaul of the military, including a costly expansion of the country’s nuclear deterrent, but declined to specify when Britain would meet a key target of spending 3 per cent of national output on defence.
Britain will move to a position of “war-fighting readiness” in response to growing threats and greater instability in the world, Mr Starmer said, as his government announced plans to invest £15 billion (S$26 billion) in its nuclear warhead programme and to build as many as 12 submarines as part of the Aukus partnership it operates with the US and Australia.
“If you want to deter conflict, then the best way to do that is to prepare for conflict,” Mr Starmer told BBC Radio on June 2, ahead of the publication of the government’s strategic defence review scheduled for later in the day.
“The world has changed: we need to be ready,” he said.
Britain’s long-awaited defence review comes against the backdrop of doubts over US willingness to guarantee security in Europe
But the review risks being overshadowed by Mr Starmer’s ambiguity over when Britain will raise defence spending to 3 per cent of national output, a goal that still falls short of Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s proposal that members should spend at least 3.5 per cent on core defence activities.
Mr Trump has demanded they spend 5 per cent.
Pressed on the timeline, Mr Starmer was non-committal, beyond a restatement of his “ambition” to get there in the next Parliament, which is due to run through 2034.
Declining to commit to a precise date, until he knows where the money would come from, he said: “I don’t believe in performative fantasy politics, and certainly not on defence and security.”
Nevertheless, Mr Starmer emphasised in a press conference later in the day that he is “100 per cent confident” the pledges outlined in the June 2 review can be delivered, because they are premised on defence spending at 2.5 per cent of economic output.
The new nuclear investment, which British Defence Secretary John Healey said on June 1 would send a “message to Moscow”, comes alongside building six new munitions factories
The June 2 review comes after a period of underinvestment in the country’s defence industry that has seen the size of the British army shrink to its smallest since the Napoleonic era.
An end to the so-called “peace dividend” will put more pressure on the country’s stretched public finances, with Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves set to unveil departments’ budget settlements at the multi-year spending review on June 11.
Higher military spending comes at a time of multiple demands on the public purse, from healthcare to prisons.
“All of Labour’s strategic defence review promises will be taken with a pinch of salt unless they can show there will actually be enough money to pay for them,” Conservative Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge said in a statement on June 1.
The Sunday Times reported that the Labour government wants to buy American-made fighter jets capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons.
The review will also recommend new defensive shields to protect the country from enemy missiles, as well as re-establishing a civilian home guard, according to the report.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has brought the state of European defences into the spotlight in recent years, with Mr Starmer saying Britain “can’t ignore” the threat posed by President Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Moscow launched one of its longest drone and missile attacks against Kyiv over the weekend, while Ukrainian drones hit several strategic airfields in Russia, escalating tensions ahead of crucial talks in Istanbul on June 2 aimed at securing a ceasefire in the years-long conflict. BLOOMBERG
