Starmer Unveils £15bn Defence Investment Plan Raising Spending to 2.5% by 2027
Sir Keir Starmer unveiled the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan today in one of his final major acts as Prime Minister. The plan commits an additional £15bn over the next decade, with £5bn earmarked specifically for drones and unmanned systems. UK defence spending will rise to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, with a longer-term goal of 3%. Starmer told a Manchester press conference that the plan would “safeguard Britain into the future”. Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis takes over implementation as the Burnham coronation expected on 17 July approaches. The plan includes the destroyer-replacement cancellation announced separately on Monday.
The plan covers procurement of jets, warships and drones over a ten-year horizon. The £5bn drone allocation reflects lessons from the Ukraine war about the central role of unmanned systems. The Ministry of Defence had originally requested £28bn for the funding settlement; the eventual £13.5bn increase agreed with the Treasury was well short of that, though Starmer has since added a further £1bn to push the headline number to £15bn. The Burnham incoming-leadership team will inherit the plan and is widely expected to revise it upward through autumn, particularly the NATO-comparison gap that critics have highlighted.