Broadband upgrades, street crime, and even Heathrow’s third runway will be reclassified as defense spending under Labour prime minister Keir Starmer’s new vision for national security, allowing the UK to get closer to NATO’s spending target without injecting significant new public funds.
The move positions the UK to comply with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s proposed 5% of GDP defense spending target by including both core military investment (3.5%) and infrastructure-related outlays (1.5%).
A government source confirmed
Ministers are considering meeting the latter target by spending money on roads, strengthening bridges and increasing runway capacity.
While PM Starmer has pledged to raise core defense spending to 3% of GDP by the next parliament, the redefinition enables the UK to present itself as aligned with NATO’s 5% goal. Currently, the UK allocates around 2.3% of GDP to defense, with plans to reach 2.6% by 2027.
Some in the defense sector are skeptical of categorizing projects like street crime prevention and broadband upgrades as national defense priorities. Still, the government is betting on this broader approach, while critics feel meddling with statistics to make up numbers is less important than addressing issues with national security or actually fighting against rampant street crime in the UK.
