Nearly €348bn earmarked for defence investment by the decade's end
After a year’s delay, outgoing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer presented the country’s Defence Investment Plan (DIP) on Tuesday, announcing a £15 billion (€17.4 billion) increase on last year’s spending plan to reach a total investment of almost £300 billion (€348 billion) by the end of the decade.
The DIP has been delayed multiple times, resulting in the resignation of Starmer’s defence minister, John Healey, and Armed Forces Minister Al Carns in mid-June.
With the new plan, the UK’s defence spending will increase to €92.8 billion, or 2.7% of GDP, by 2029.
“At last year’s NATO summit, I committed to spend 5% of GDP on our wider security – covering things like energy security and critical infrastructure, as well as defence,” Starmer said. “The Defence Investment Plan, published today, takes us to 4.2% under that commitment.”
