UK to spend €348bn on defence over next four years, Starmer says

Published on

30/06/2026 - 12:53 GMT+2

The UK's outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Tuesday that Britain would spend almost £300 billion (€348 billion) over the next four years to modernise its armed forces amid rising threats.

Starmer, expected to leave office next month after losing the support of Labour MPs, announced that the overall defence budget would increase by £15 billion (€17 billion) over the next four years to almost £300 billion, as he launched his long-awaited 10-year Defence Investment Plan.

"Last year I made the decision in the national interest to reprioritise aid spending towards defence and achieved the biggest uplift in defence spending since the end of the Cold War," Starmer said in a speech.