Campaigners from the Global Campaign on Military Spending UK have urged the Labour Government not to increase military spending, amid calls for billions more to be spent following recent statements from members of the US administration.
The UK is already one of the most militarised societies in the world – with analysis by GCOMS-UK showing that core military spending is set to reach £59.8bn per annum. That’s more than £100,000 every minute for the whole year.
Members of the Cabinet have been queueing up over the weekend to support calls for more military spending, with Foreign Secretary David Lammy saying the UK is “absolutely” committed to spending 2.5% and Defence Secretary John Healey telling Sky News “everyone accepts that we need to spend more” on the military.
The government is coming under immense pressure from both US President Trump – who called on NATO members to increase military spending to 5% – and new NATO head Mark Rutte, who said the figure should be “north of 3%”.
Even raising the level of military spending from the current 2.3% of GDP to 2.5% would require more than £5bn of extra spending every year. With the Chancellor committed to not raising taxes any further, this would inevitably lead to swingeing cuts in many other areas of public spending.
The current global political landscape is fraught, situations are changing rapidly and the international environment is unstable and uncertain. This makes an investment in peacebuilding and diplomacy even more important.
Dr Stuart Parkinson, Co-Chair of GCOMS-UK, said “The Labour government has already increased military spending by nearly £3bn since coming into power, and is committed to further increases, despite giving no indication of where the money will come from. The government should be focussing on the priorities of the British people including rebuilding public services and tackling the climate crisis, rather than dancing to the tune of Donald Trump. Greater military spending will do nothing to end conflicts or bring a lasting and just peace in Ukraine or elsewhere. Pouring endless billions into the military will not keep us safe. It will most likely accelerate international arms races – and hence undermine international security, not improve it. Britain, and other states, should be investing money and energy in diplomacy and peace building. ”
