Rachel has welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement that the government will be raising defence spending to 2.5% of GDP from April 2027. The announcement means billions more will be spent on national security in the coming years, and delivers on Labour’s manifesto commitment to spend more on keeping Britain safe.

The big increase in defence spending builds on previous government action that support Britain’s defence and security, including the biggest pay rise for armed forces personnel in a generation that was announced in the last budget.

The government have said they will be reducing spending on foreign aid to pay for the commitment, meaning taxes will not need to rise to fund it.

In her response to the Prime Minister’s announcement Rachel said that national security was the first duty of government and that she was therefore glad that the government was rising to the challenge of investing in our defence. She also raised concern about previous comments made by Nigel Farage that Vladimir Putin was the foreign leader he most admired, and that NATO provoked Russia into invading Ukraine, which she said play into the hands of Britain’s enemies.