Sir Keir Starmer risks clashing with Donald Trump over defence spending unless he agrees to a larger increase than planned, former military chiefs have warned.
Former Navy chief Lord West and ex-defence secretary Ben Wallace are among those urging the UK to join a Nato push to boost defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade.
European Nato members have reportedly held talks about increasing the spending target at its next annual summit in June.
And on Thursday, Mark Rutte, the military alliance’s secretary-general, said that members’ future spending would have to go much higher than the current target of 2 per cent.
“It is time to shift to a war time mindset, and turbo-charge our defence production and defence spending,” he said during a speech in Brussels.
However, The i Paper understands that the UK Government is only focused on how to reach 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence spending, up from the current 2.3 per cent.
A timeline for this is expected in the spring after the conclusion of Labour’s strategic defence review.
“We have to recognise the need to manage finances,” a Whitehall source warned.
A failure to match any increased Nato target could put Starmer on collision course with Trump. The president-elect has demanded that Europe pay more for its own defence, and threatened to scale back US support for Ukraine.
Lord West, a Labour peer who led the Royal Navy between 2002 and 2006, said the UK would have to “step into the breach” if Trump reduced military support.
“Trump doesn’t believe that European Nato has stepped up to the plate to pay for their own defence and he will certainly run that line when he gets to power again. So Nato have got to get their act together.
“The problem with monetary increase in the UK, to go up to 3 per cent would break the government’s fiscal rules. Well, I’m afraid – because of the threat to our nation – I think they might have to do that.”
Former Conservative defence secretary Wallace, who previously said that the UK’s military had been “hollowed out” by year’s of underfunding, said: “For our Armed Forces to be match fit will take 3 per cent.
“Since the last review we have witnessed the new ways of warfare in Ukraine and resurgent threats in the Middle East and further afield.
“This means we need new ways of warfare and the ability to deploy to more than our own backyard.”
Wallace added: “If I was the US, I would insist that the membership subscription to entry to the club is 3 per cent by 2030.”
According to Nato, 23 of 32 members will reach the 2 per cent target this year, up from six in 2018.
However, Trump’s threat that the US will not fund “delinquent” countries after he takes office next month has spooked the alliance.
Tory former defence minister Tobias Ellwood said: “The first thing Trump will demand of Europe is to spend more on defence, that will be a condition, and without it I predict he will simply say: there are other geopolitical challenges I face, you guys aren’t willing to look after your own security, I’m going elsewhere.
“We need to read the room and realise what’s about to happen on 20 January [when Trump begins his term as president].
“And as a lead European nation in Nato, let’s set the bar, set the standards now and agree to 3 per cent.”
In his speech in Brussels, Rutte said: “Russia is preparing for long-term confrontation, with Ukraine and with us.
“We are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years.”
Asked about moves towards a 3 per cent target, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We are committed to sending out a pathway to 2.5 per cent of defence spending.
“We’ll be setting that out in the spring, following the detailed strategic defence review that is undergoing.
“We hope we’ve previously called on allies to follow suit and raise defense spending.
“But there’s absolutely no question of our support for Nato, from UK troops to in the eastern flank to our nuclear deterrent.
“This Government has been incredibly clear about its unwavering commitment to the alliance.
“The UK is the third largest defence spender in Nato, after US and Germany, and our commitment to Nato will continue.”
