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Defence: Expenditure

Asked by Jim ShannonDemocratic Unionist PartyMinistry of DefenceTabled Answered 1 August 2024UIN 1494

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with his NATO counterparts on increasing defence spending.

Answered by Luke Pollard

At the NATO Summit earlier in July 2024, the Prime Minister, Foreign and Defence Secretaries discussed a range of issues with our NATO allies at the NATO Summit. This included making the case for all NATO allies to increase defence spending, in light of the grave threats to our security.

The UK continues to work internationally with our allies to encourage all NATO allies to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defence, with 23 allies now meeting this target. We see this as a minimum not a ceiling for defence spending in these more difficult times.

This Government is committed to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence.

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