Author: Edna Mohamed
Published on: 27/02/2025 | 00:00:00

AI Summary:
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced the country will increase defence spending by cutting its foreign aid budget. He says the move is necessary as the United Kingdom faces a “dangerous new era”. Starmer says he has committed to increasing defence spending to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product. Starmer announced on Tuesday that the hike in defence spending will total 13.4 billion pounds ($17bn) every year after cutting overseas aid from 0.5 percent to 0.3 percent until 2027. The decision comes amid fears that a US decision to work closely with Russia will sideline Kyiv and its European allies. The UK’s main response is to cut its international aid budget. Russia invades Ukraine, the UK’s response to the invasion is to reduce its international assistance budget. Starmer has indicated that the future presence of British troops in Ukraine is a possibility as part of a security guarantee in a peace deal. But some critics have said a 2.5 percent allocation for defence two years from now isn’t enough to make Britain truly prepared militarily for the challenges it faces. In the autumn budget, the government allocated 13.3 billion pounds ($16.9bn) in foreign aid for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. The UK has traditionally been quite a big humanitarian spender, Mitchell says. “That seems impossible now in the light of the reductions,” Martill adds.

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