Britain will probably be “the leading European nation” in Nato underneath a Labour authorities, the brand new defence secretary, John Healey, pledged in an interview on the Nato summit in Washington DC – although spending could must rise considerably if the UK is to stay forward of Germany.
The cupboard minister, appointed final Friday, acknowledged that European nations inside Nato must tackle extra of the burden of defending the west in opposition to Russia – no matter whether or not Joe Biden or Donald Trump gained the US presidential election in November.
“Whoever is elected to the White House, we have to recognise that American priorities are likely to shift to the Indo-Pacific,” Healey mentioned on the Nato summit in Washington, suggesting that the US will inevitably redirect its army focus to China.
“The consequences of that are that European nations in Nato must do more of the heavy lifting and some of the leadership that traditionally we have been able to look to the Americans to do.
“So Keir Starmer’s commitment during this summit, [is] that under the new government, Britain will be the leading European nation in Nato,” Healey mentioned. “We recognise the responsibilities that with other European nations we must pick up.”
Labour has promised to extend defence spending to 2.5% of GDP from its current stage of two.32% nevertheless it has not mentioned when it would do that. On Wednesday, Healey mentioned a evaluation of budgets would a part of a strategic evaluation that might be launched subsequent week by the prime minister.
The brand new defence secretary promised that the evaluation would happen “in less than a year” and in such a approach that “we can get to grips with difficult decisions that need to be taken early”.
Britain has historically been the main European nation in Nato, as measured by defence expenditure, outspending Germany and France. However since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has led a dramatic change in coverage.
Figures launched by Nato confirmed that in greenback phrases the UK spent $77bn (£60bn) in 2023 in contrast with $73.1bn for Germany and $59.3bn for France. However, subsequent yr, Germany’s budgets are anticipated to soar previous Britain at $97.7bn – in contrast with $82.1bn for the UK.
after e-newsletter promotion
Earlier than the summit, Downing Avenue mentioned Starmer would use his journey – his first worldwide engagement after turning into prime minister final Friday – to name on Nato nations to extend defence spending additional. The intention, a spokesperson mentioned, was to ship “a strong signal” to Russia because it continues to assault Ukraine.
European Nato allies have principally frightened in regards to the affect of a recent Donald Trump presidency. The Republican challenger to Biden threatened to depart the alliance in 2018 when he was final president, and has threatened that any member spending lower than 2% of GDP on defence wouldn’t be protected by the US.
