UK vows to spend 5% of GDP on national security by 2035

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to meet a new Nato target to spend 5% of the UKs GDP on national security by 2035.

At a Nato summit in the Netherlands, 32 member countries including the UK are expected to agree the 5% goal, with 3.5% to go on core defence and the remaining 1.5% on defence-related areas such as resilience and security.

The split target is aimed at placating US President Donald Trump, who has urged Nato allies to spend more, while giving cash-strapped EU countries flexibility over how they meet the target.

Downing Street has argued measures on energy and tackling smuggling gangs could be classified as security spending.

The Conservatives said the plan was unfunded and a decade away.

Speaking ahead of the two-day summit, Sir Keir said the UK had to navigate this era of radical uncertainty with agility, speed and a clear-eyed sense of the national interest.

After all, economic security is national security, and through this strategy we will bring the whole of society with us, creating jobs, growth and wages for working people.

Could this be the most significant Nato summit since the Cold War?

How much do Nato members spend on defence?

Healey expects UK to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2034

Nato (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) is made up of 32 member countries who agree to defend each other if attacked.

Since Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and Trump’s re-election as US president last year, members of the organisation have faced increased pressure to boost their defence spending.

Countries had been expected to spend at least 2% of their national income - or GDP - on defence, although last year, only 23 hit that target - an increase from three in 2014.

In January, Trump said 2% was not enough and that Nato allies should be spending 5%.

And speaking last year before his re-election, he said he would encourage aggressors to do whatever the hell they want to European allies who dont pay their way.

In February, Sir Keir set out plans to increase the UKs defence spending, as opposed to national security spending, to 2.5% by April 2027 and expressed a clear ambition to reach 3% by 2034 if economic conditions allowed.

On Monday, the government said it expected to reach the target of spending 4.1% of GDP on national security by 2027.

The 1.5% element of the 5% Nato target is for what is described as resilience, such as border security and protection against cyber attacks.

For the UK, this latter element is expected to be met by the year after next, with core defence spending reaching 2.6% by then.

Getting core defence spending to 3.5% isn‘t expected until 2035 – two general elections away – and Downing Street hasn’t said how it will be paid for.

Alongside the spending commitment, the government published its National Security Strategy which said the UK needed to be more competitive and robust in science, education, trade and frontier technology.

It also sought to stress that investment in defence would be felt directly in the pockets of working people pointing to new jobs that would be created.

The summit will be Mark Ruttes first as secretary general of Nato. Speaking at a press conference on Monday, the former Dutch prime minister said the 5% spending commitment was a quantum leap that is ambitious, historic and fundamental to securing our future.

However, it is unclear how nations will meet the target or whether they will at all.

On Sunday evening, Spain claimed it had secured an opt-out, something later denied by Rutte.

Ukraine is not a member of Nato and although President Volodymyr Zelensky has been invited to the summit dinner he will not be taking part in discussions of the North Atlantic Council.

Last week, Ed Arnold from the defence think tank Rusi told the BBC contentious issues - including a new Russia strategy - had been removed from the summits agenda.