Following yesterday's urgent European summit on Ukraine – and ahead of his trip next week to Washington D.C. – Keir Starmer has said he will set out a "pathway" to increase the UK's defence spending from 2.3% of GDP to 2.5%.

His problem, shared by many of the other European leaders who attended Monday's summit, is that "public finances are already strained to breaking point", said the Financial Times.

What did the commentators say?
With Donald Trump "a lot less willing" to bolster European defence capability than his White House predecessor, the question of "who's going to pay for our protection" is "top of the list", said the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg following last year's US election.

Starmer's 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", Hannah White, director and CEO of the Institute for Government, told BBC Radio 4's "Today". To hit 3%, as some defence experts are urging, would mean cutting "the equivalent of the entire Ministry of Justice and Department for Business and Trade".

Getting to 3% would be "monumentally" difficult, said William Hague in The Times. To succeed would take "reforms of sickness benefits and NHS productivity", 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, answering Trump's "legitimate point" on the burden of defence spending while also contributing to Ukraine's defence and the rest of Europe's future security.

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. The Labour government may soon have to make a similar decision. But less than four months on from the Autumn Budget, it is a decision that Britain cannot "take lightly", carrying the risk of damaging the country's credibility within the financial markets.

Increased penalty fines for fare-dodging are working as an "effective deterrent", according to the London mayor. But Tories on the London Assembly said Sadiq Khan and his team are "in denial" about "the scale of the issue".

Barging through barriers
Fare evasion across the TfL network has dropped from an estimated 3.8% of all journeys to 3.4% since the penalty was raised from £80 to £100 last year. But that's still "more than double" TfL's target of below 1.5%, said Southwark News.

Wait by the barriers at "literally any" Tube station at rush hour in London, said James Hanson in The Spectator, and "within 60 seconds" you're "likely" to see at least half a dozen young men "barge their way through the barriers without a care in the world". No one is "shocked" and the "hapless high-viz clad" TfL staff are "powerless to stop" the offenders. What's needed is two police officers "stationed by the barriers at every major tube station in the capital".

'Spreads like contagion'
A study of Santiago’s public transport found that fare dodgers could be categorised into four groups: those who view non-payment as a form of protest, those who evade fares when they believe the risk of being caught is low, accidental evaders, and ambivalent evaders who sometimes pay but don't always see the point of it.

In a trial carried out in Queensland, Australia, cutting fares to 50 cents (about 25p) led to a 27% drop in fare evasion fines. That data "aligns" with the idea that fare-dodging is, "at least partially", a "rational economic decision", said The Independent. When the price is lower, the "incentive to evade diminishes" – but it does not "completely disappear".

A "surprising insight" from research is that fare evasion isn't only an economic decision, but "a social one, too". When passengers "perceive the system as unfair" – be it due to unreliable service, high fares or a lack of investment – fare evasion rises. And once fare-dodging behaviour is culturally normalised, it "spreads like contagion".

Forget Route 66 or the Australian outback – the UK is home to some of the "most picturesque, otherworldly" driving routes on the planet, said Condé Nast Traveller.

Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, England
In the heart of the West Country, 10 miles southwest of Bristol, lies Cheddar Gorge (pictured above), the UK's "bucolic version of the Grand Canyon", said Country Living. The "twisty, fairly demanding drive" takes you straight through the "sheer limestone cliffs". Make a "pitstop" at the top of the gorge for sweeping views across the Mendip Hills.

North Coast 500, Scotland
Widely considered Scotland's "ultimate road trip", this 516-mile route starts and ends at Inverness Castle and covers some of the country's "most amazing coastal scenery", including "charming fishing villages", said The Independent. It takes about a week, and you can fill the days with visits to whisky distilleries, canoeing and fishing.

Causeway Coastal Route, Northern Ireland
The Causeway Coastal Route is "arguably one of the best things to do in Northern Ireland", said TheIrishRoadTrip.com. Between Belfast and Derry, the Antrim Coast road is 195 miles in length and "fairly straightforward". Highlights are the Glens of Antrim, Giant's Causeway and Torr Head.

Cambrian Way, Wales
Wales is the "perfect destination" for a road trip and the Cambrian Way is "epic", said the Emily Luxton Travels blog. The 185-mile route runs from Cardiff to the north coast seaside town of Llandudno. Recommended as a five-day trip, it's packed with "rich heritage, fascinating history, and some truly spectacular scenic drives".

I've seen how we fix the NHS – but Labour won't like it
Sherelle Jacobs in The Telegraph
"For a generation", writes Sherelle Jacobs, people have viewed the NHS as an "inefficient behemoth that might be tamed" through "efficiency drives" and reforms. But it's not "bureaucratic bloat" that's making the health service "unsustainable"; it's "relentless innovation". We should pivot "from treatment to prevention", because a "political saviour" can't "rescue the NHS". What is needed is a "national epiphany", in which "we all take greater ownership of our lives, and responsibility for our health".

The place I was born in Gaza is gone – so now where do I call home?
Ahmed Najar in The Independent
"My family home in Jabalia, in the north of Gaza, has now been destroyed," writes London-based Palestinian author Ahmed Najar. What was "once a place of warmth and memories" is now "burned to the ground". I find it "beyond comprehension" and "the pain is unbearable". Palestinians "have always understood" that "this has never been about peace" but rather "erasure". But "no wall, no checkpoint, no system of apartheid, no brutality can erase who we are".

Anxiety is good for you
Harry Mount in The Spectator
The "life of the worrier" like me means "a new worry dropping into the brain every five seconds", writes Harry Mount. "Life is one huge to-do list." But I'm "grateful", because "the itch to do boring things as quickly as possible – which is father to the worry – is a good itch" and "frees up time to do interesting things". By contrast, "non-worriers end up in a world of chaos" and, often, "misery".