Britain to increase defense investments by $19.8 billion

Britain will allocate an additional £15 billion ($19.8 billion) to defense.

This was stated by British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves while presenting the defense investment plan.

"The world has changed, national security means economic security. Today we are increasing defense spending even more. The additional £15 billion will be provided as funding as part of the government's spending priorities review," Reeves said.

"Thus we are setting a new record, spending almost £300 billion on defense over the next four years, strengthening our armed forces and national security," said Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who took the podium after Reeves.

As The Daily Telegraph notes, despite the announced investments, Britain will still lag behind major NATO countries in defense spending. The publication notes that the kingdom's spending on this item will now reach 2.69% of GDP by 2030. For comparison, by the same year Germany plans to spend 3.7% of GDP on defense, and Sweden - 3.5% of GDP.

In mid-June, in protest against insufficient spending on rearmament, British Defense Minister John Healey resigned, along with his deputy and two assistants. According to the Financial Times, Healey insisted on allocating £18 billion.

Source: TASS