British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is preparing to overrule his finance minister Rachel Reeves and order more defence spending, after the United States demanded that Europe pays more for its security, the Sunday Times reported.
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Citing sources, the newspaper said Starmer is due to fly to Washington next week to speak with US President Donald Trump, with an announcement due as early as Monday.
Starmer’s Labour government has committed to raising defence spending to 2.5 per cent of economic output from around 2.3 per cent now but has not yet set out a timetable.
Reeves, who is preparing a major spending review, already faces a challenge to deliver promises to improve public services and raise economic growth without running afoul of her fiscal rules – which look at risk of being breached.
“In the end, it’s the prime minister’s decision on national security. This one does sit with the PM,” the Sunday Times quoted a Starmer ally as saying.
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“We know we have to set out when we’re getting to 2.5 per cent. The defence and security review will still do what we needed to do.”