Aysu Bicer
26 February 2025•Update: 26 February 2025
LONDON
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer came under intense scrutiny during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) on Wednesday as Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch challenged him on his recently announced defense spending plans.
Badenoch pointed to Starmer’s proposal to increase defense spending and claimed that it was her idea to fund the rise by cutting aid.
She expressed satisfaction that Starmer has accepted her suggestion but pressed him on the specifics of the figures.
“Yesterday, you claimed the increase would be £13.4 billion a year,” Badenoch said. “But this morning, your defense secretary stated the increase amounts to just £6 billion. Which figure is accurate?”
She also questioned whether the new funds would be used to cover the costs of the Chagos Islands deal, a longstanding dispute related to the UK’s overseas territories.
In response, Starmer reaffirmed the importance of his defense spending announcement, saying the additional funding is aimed at bolstering Europe’s defense and security capabilities.
He said: “The additional spend I announced yesterday is for our capability on defense and security in Europe. As I made absolutely clear yesterday, the Chagos deal is extremely important for our security.”
The premier explained that he would bring the Chagos Islands deal to the House of Commons once it is finalized, including all costings.
He dismissed the figures circulating in the media as "wild" and clarified that the £13.4 billion increase cited in his announcement represents the difference in defense spending between 2024/25, which is projected at £66.3 billion, and 2027/28, which is expected to rise to £79.7 billion.
Starmer also accused Badenoch of being on a "desperate search for relevance" concerning his defense spending plans.
“Badenoch didn’t feature in my thinking when coming up with this plan,” he added.
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey also weighed in on the debate, asking Starmer whether he would support the Lib Dem’s proposal for a European rearmament bank to help fund higher defense spending.
“I want to work with European allies on boosting defense capability,” Starmer concluded, reiterating his commitment to enhancing the UK’s ability to meet what he described as a “generational challenge” in defense and security.
On Ukraine, he said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is “a democratically elected leader,” implicitly rebuking US President Donald Trump’s recent claims that Zelenskyy is a dictator.
Starmer pointed out that suspending elections was a move Britain made during the Second World War to focus on defeating the Axis powers.
