Boris Johnson promises to boost UK defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by end of decade

The 30 Nato leaders signed up to documents that declare Russia the most significant and direct threat to allied security, reports Europe Editor James Mates from Madrid

The UK will boost its military spending by a further £55 billion over the next decade, Boris Johnson has promised, as he and Nato allies seek to mitigate the threat posed by Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

The PM eased a brewing row in his Cabinet with the commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product after public lobbying from Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.

The pledge to hit that target by the start or 2030 could amount to an extra £55.1 billion cumulatively over the rest of the decade - keeping the UK in line with its promise to Nato to spend 2.5% of GPD on defence.

The figure for 2021 was 2.3%.

Speaking as the Nato summit in Madrid drew to a close, Mr Johnson said: “We need to invest for the long term in vital capabilities like future combat air whilst simultaneously adapting to a more dangerous and more competitive world.

“The logical conclusion of the investments on which we propose to embark, these decisions, is that we’ll reach 2.5% of GDP on defence by the end of the decade.”

Defence Secretary Mr Wallace, who was at the centre of a Cabinet spending row over his high-profile campaign for more cash, was said to be grateful for the announcement.

A source close to the minister said: “The defence secretary has always been clear that, as the threat changes, so should defence spending. “In 2020 the prime minister reversed decades of under-investment in defence and he rightly responded to Russia’s danger by continuing to invest in defence, for which the Defence Secretary is very grateful.”

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But a former minister who was once a captain in the Royal Green Jackets and is still in the Army Reserves, has said the PM's pledge is “too little, too late”.

Tobias Ellwood, the Tory chair of the Commons Defence Committee, has called for 3% of GDP to be spent on defence and condemned Mr Johnson for going ahead with planned cuts to the size of the Army. “This is NOT the time to cut the Army by 10,000,” he said on Twitter, “and moving to 2.5% defence spend by 2030 is too little too late".

Conservative MP Julian Lewis, the chair of Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, described the spending increase as “feeble”, accusing the prime minister of “an inability or unwillingness to face up to the gravity of the current crisis”.

Mr Johnson said the West needed to show Mr Putin it had the “staying power” to support the Ukrainians for the duration of the conflict.

“If you wanted evidence of the amazing ability of the Ukrainians to fight back, to overcome adversity, and to repel the Russians, then look at what has happened just today on Snake Island where Russia has to cede ground,” he said. The UK has promised an extra £1 billion of military aid for Ukraine and Mr Johnson said Volodymyr Zelensky’s country had to be supported to take back occupied territory.

“I think if Ukraine were to be crushed or forced into a bad peace, the consequences for freedom around the world would be appalling,” he said.

Ukraine has lobbied for Nato membership, something which would have guaranteed protection from the alliance when Mr Putin launched his invasion in February.

Mr Johnson said membership of the alliance – which is set to expand to include Finland and Sweden due to decisions made in Madrid – was an argument for “down the track”. But as an interim position he said Ukraine should be fortified with “Nato-grade weaponry, plus intelligence, plus training” so that a future attack was inconceivable.