Starmer proposes to deploy UK peacekeepers in Ukraine, MPs say show us the budget

After Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he is open to deploying British soldiers to Ukraine, MPs have urged him to outline plans to increase defence spending.

Amid messaging from the Donald Trump administration in the United States that Europe is on its own in the face of Russian aggression, Starmer has been stressing that the United Kingdom and Europe need to do more for their own security. He has said his government will publish plans to increase defence spending this year.

However, as no such timeline has been giving, members of parliament, including from his own Liberal Party, have urged him to outline plans at the earliest.

In an article in The Daily Telegraph, Starmer this week said that the situation in Ukraine is a “once in a lifetime” crisis not just for that country but entire Europe and “lasting peace in Ukraine that safeguards its sovereignty for the long term is essential if we are to deter Putin from further aggression in the future”. For such lasting peace, he said the UK is willing to step and be part of security guarantees as well .

“The UK is ready to play a leading role in accelerating work on security guarantees for Ukraine. This includes further support for Ukraine’s military, where the UK has already committed £3 billion a year until at least 2030. But it also means being ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary,” said Starmer.

Raise defence spending to 2.5% at the earliest, says top Labour MP

Tan Dhesi, the Labour MP who chairs the Defense Select Committee, told PoliticsHome that as the UK has to prepare for the “potential absence” of the United States in European security affairs, the British government needs to outline the plan to raise defence spending to 2.5 per cent of the GDP at the earliest.

Dhesi said, “I’m reiterating my call to the government for setting out a clear timetable as soon as possible about how we’re going to reach 2.5 per cent defence spend. At this critical troubling time for our continent’s defence and security, given Russia’s imperialistic designs, we as a nation must show leadership. That is what our friends and allies are also expecting of us.”

Speaking on similar lines, Labour MP Labour Blair McDougall, who is part of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the UK had been complacent on defence spending for decades and had fallen into a false sense of security that the end of the Cold War brought, according to PoliticsHome.

In December, former Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood of the Conservative Party said the UK should lead by example in hiking defence spending in Europe.

“The first demand Trump is likely to make of Europe is ‘increase your defence budgets or I will cut US support’. As the next largest, most professional military force in Nato we should be leading by example. What the MoD requires is clarity to plan. Announcing a timetable to increase defence spending over the next year would satisfy the Treasury, give the MoD space to plan and set a responsible example with our Nato allies,” said Ellwood, according to i newspaper.

Separately, Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge said at the time that with each passing day that the defence spending hike plan is not outlined, Starmer’s government “undermines the ability of our armed forces to rearm at the pace and scale they need to meet today’s threats”, as per the newspaper.

Contested timeline for defence spending hike

There is a bitter contest over the timeline for hiking defence spending in the United Kingdom.

While reports say that Starmer government’s plan in the making says the spending should reach 2.5 per cent of the economy by 2034, defence chiefs have been reported to be pushing for the target to be met by 2027 .

The previous Conservative government of Rishi Sunak had pledged to reach the spending level by 2030. But as the government was voted out, it could never get on a path to implement is vision.