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Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers his keynote speech during the Scottish Labour Party conference at the Scottish Exhibition Centre (SEC) in Glasgow, February 23, 2025
PRIME Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s plan for a massive boost to military spending funded by slashing overseas aid was slammed as “grotesquely awful” by peace campaigners today.
He faced a wave of opposition after telling MPs that arms spending is to rise by more than £13 billion a year by 2027, with the aim of a further £30bn-plus hike in the next parliament.
The first tranche of this new arms race is to be funded by a huge cut to the overseas development budget, from 0.5 per cent of GDP to just 0.3 per cent, all justified by the three-year-old Ukraine war.
The 2025 Budget shores up the PM’s political position with headline-grabbing welfare U-turns, but with no improvements on offer to declining public services or living standards, writes MICHAEL BURKE
Under current policy, welfare cuts are just a small downpayment on future austerity, argues MICHAEL BURKE