How will Keir Starmer pay for greater defence spending?
Funding for courts, prisons, local government and the environment could all be at risk

Keir Starmer has attempted to curry favour with President Trump ahead of a trip to Washington next week by promising to "spend more on defence". But where he will find the money to do that is far from certain.
The prime minister has said the government will set out a "pathway" to increase defence spending from 2.3% of GDP to 2.5% in the wake of an emergency meeting with European leaders on Monday, "but has refused to say when that target will be achieved", said the Financial Times.
His problem, shared by many of his fellow European leaders who attended the Paris meeting on Ukraine, is that "public finances are already strained to breaking point".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What did the commentators say?
"You're probably used to politicians telling you we're living in the most dangerous times for decades," said the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg in November. "But who's going to pay for our protection?" With Trump "a lot less willing" to bolster European defence capability than his predecessor Joe Biden, it puts that question "right to the top of the list".
The Labour Party may be "instinctively uncomfortable" with a second Trump administration, but "there is some sympathy with his attitude towards European defence funding". One insider pointed out that after Trump's first term, the number of Nato countries that hit the target of spending at least 2% of their GDP on defence rose from six countries in 2021 to 23 today.
The sums necessary for raising defence spending to 2.5% – or to 3% as some defence experts are urging – are enormous. The government has made commitments that it won't cut areas such as health, schools and aid, leaving "unprotected" departments – covering areas such as courts, prisons, local government, the environment, culture and policing – at risk. These departments have already "borne the brunt" of austerity and are facing further cuts thanks to Rachel Reeves' budget, Dr Hannah White, director and CEO of the Institute for Government, told BBC Radio 4's "Today".
The government will need to find £9 billion of extra cuts to reach its 2.5% target, equivalent to "the whole of the budget of DEFRA", said White. To hit 3% would mean cutting "the equivalent of the entire Ministry of Justice and Department for Business and Trade, which would be £17 billion worth of cuts to day-to-day spending".
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Getting to 3% would be a "monumentally" difficult task, one the chancellor will tell the PM is "impossible". Yet Poland, the Baltic states and the US already do it, "and they all have growing economies", said William Hague in The Times. In Britain, it would need "reforms of sickness benefits and NHS productivity to succeed" and the "runaway train of pension spending – the triple lock – would need brakes".
But a "clear policy" from London would increase pressure on the rest of Europe to do the same, thereby answering Trump's "legitimate point" over defence spending, contributing to Ukraine's defence and helping to prevent another war.
What next?
Britain "is in the same fiscal bind as much of Europe", yet the EU has agreed to temporarily ease its fiscal rules to allow countries to spend more on defence, said Sky News. Britain may soon have to make a similar decision, with a rise to 2.5%, or even 3%, unlikely to silence all the critics of Britain's defence spending.
Yet less than four months on from the Budget, it is not a decision Britain can "take lightly" without the risk of damaging the country's credibility within the financial markets.
Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.
-
September 1 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Monday’s political cartoons include Labor Day picnic, branding strategy, and more
-
What is Tony Blair's plan for Gaza?
Today's Big Question Former PM has reportedly been putting together a post-war strategy 'for the past several months'
-
When does autumn begin?
The Explainer The UK is experiencing a 'false autumn', as climate change shifts seasonal weather patterns
-
Lisa Cook and Trump's battle for control the US Fed
Talking Point The president's attempts to fire one of the Federal Reserve's seven governor is represents 'a stunning escalation' of his attacks on the US central bank
-
Did Trump just push India into China's arms?
Today's Big Question Tariffs disrupt American efforts to align with India
-
Why is Trump suddenly interested in his enemies' mortgages?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the president continues targeting adversaries, he's turned to a surprising ally to provide ammunition for an emerging line of attack
-
'A symbol of the faceless corporate desire'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Truck drivers are questioning the Trump administration's English mandate
Talking Points Some have praised the rules, others are concerned they could lead to profiling
-
DC prosecutors lose bid to indict sandwich thrower
Speed Read Prosecutors sought to charge Sean Dunn with assaulting a federal officer
-
Trump soaks up adoration in his made-for-TV Cabinet meetings
IN THE SPOTLIGHT The president's televised sessions have become a platform for his top lieutenants to demonstrate executive flattery
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judges
Speed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges