LONDON (AP) – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged yesterday to increase United Kingdom (UK) military funding by GBP5 billion (USD6 billion) over the next two years in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the “epoch-defining challenge” posed by China.
The increase, part of a major update to UK foreign and defence policy, is less than military officials wanted. Sunak said the UK would increase military spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP “in the longer term”, but did not set a date. Britain currently spends just over two per cent of GDP on defence, and military chiefs want it to rise to three per cent.
The extra money will be used, in part, to replenish Britain’s ammunition stocks, depleted from supplying Ukraine in its defence against Russia. Some will also go towards a UK-United States (US)-Australia deal to build nuclear-powered submarines.
Sunak met US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in San Diego yesterday to confirm the next steps for the military pact, known as AUKUS, struck by the three countries in 2021 amid mounting concern about China’s actions in the Pacific.
Britain last produced a defence, security and foreign policy framework, known as the Integrated Review, in 2021. The government ordered an update in response to an increasingly volatile world.
