Starmer Attends Final NATO Summit as Caretaker PM
Sir Keir Starmer travelled to Ankara for his final NATO summit, thirteen days before the expected handover to Andy Burnham, facing American pressure over defence spending after the US ambassador to NATO called on allies “lagging behind” to step up immediately. Britain’s defence plan reaches roughly 2.7% of GDP by 2030 against the 5% trajectory Washington demands — and the £4.7bn gap in that plan remains unfunded.
The constitutional oddity is real: a resigned prime minister making spending representations at a summit whose commitments his successor must fund, days after the former defence secretary blamed the Treasury for blocking the higher trajectory and welcomed Burnham’s pledge to fully fund the plan. Whatever Starmer signs up to in Ankara arrives in the autumn Budget as someone else’s bill. American pressure meanwhile has sharpened from burden-sharing to timetable — 5% “as soon as possible” rather than 2035. Watch what language Britain accepts in the summit communiqué, and how quickly Burnham’s camp distances itself from or embraces it.