Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party in the UK, has voiced his unwavering commitment to the country’s nuclear arsenal. Writing in the Daily Mail, Starmer called the creation of the NHS and an independent British nuclear program “towering achievements” of the post-1945 Labour government, adding that his commitment to the UK’s nuclear weapons is “unshakeable” and “absolute”.
Starmer has said that he wants defence spending to rise to 2.5% of GDP “as soon as resources allow”. According to NATO estimates, it stood at 2.1% of GDP in 2023. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has also said he wants defence spending to increase to 2.5%.
Labour’s previous leader Jeremy Corbyn had been a vocal opponent of the UK’s Trident submarine-based missile system and vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Starmer, on the other hand, has described Labour’s commitment to the UK having nuclear weapons as “total”, adding that nuclear weapons were “expensive but it’s absolutely vital and needed”.
Annual running costs for the UK’s nuclear deterrent are estimated at 6% of the defence budget – roughly £3 billion for 2023-24. The new Dreadnought boats being built at Barrow-in-Furness to replace the current submarines in the early 2030s are estimated to cost £31 billion.
All members of military alliance NATO have pledged to spend at least 2% of the value of their economies on defence per year by 2024. NATO estimates for 2023 suggest that Poland was the top spender, allocating 3.9% of GDP, which was more than twice the amount it had spent in 2022
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