Increased defence spending will boost UK economic growth, Streeting says

Wes Streeting and BAE Systems chief Charles Woodburn unveil of an unmanned fighter aircraft at the Farnborough airshow on Wednesday. Photograph: Sarah Young/Reuters View image in fullscreen Wes Streeting and BAE Systems chief Charles Woodburn unveil of an unmanned fighter aircraft at the Farnborough airshow on Wednesday. Photograph: Sarah Young/Reuters Increased defence spending will boost UK economic growth, Streeting says New defence secretary emphasises military will be spending priority over other departments under Burnham UK politics live – latest updates Wes Streeting has said increased defence spending would make “an enormous contribution” to economic growth as he emphasised that the military will be a spending priority for Andy Burnham’s government over other departments. The new defence secretary, in a speech at the Farnborough airshow, did not make any extra financial commitments but promised he would give the arms industry “clarity and confidence” in contrast to the row that contributed to the fall of Keir Starmer. Spending more on defence would come at “an opportunity cost across government”, Streeting said in a subsequent briefing, meaning the Ministry of Defence have to show “we are spending existing resources wisely”. He also criticised Israel for having “fallen short” in it conduct during the war in Gaza and in its operation of the West Bank. Streeting said defence was the portfolio he wanted on his return to government after he resigned as health secretary in May. Burnham recommitted the UK to lifting defence spending from 2.6% of gross domestic product to the Nato target of 3.5% by 2035 in his first speech as prime minister on Monday, implying a real-terms increase of more than £25bn in less than a decade. In a video address played before Streeting’s speech, Burnham said military spending would help reindustrialise the UK. “We are going to honour our commitments on defence and use that investment to transform people’s lives,” he added. UK defence spending was last at 3.5% of GDP in the early 1990s, in the immediate aftermath of the cold war. A combination of renewed Russian aggression, concern about China and pressure from the US on European Nato countries has led to a rethink. Expectations that the UK would meet spending obligations originally demanded from all Nato allies by Donald Trump have been increased further by Burnham’s appointment of the former defence secretary John Healey as chancellor. The appointment suggests No 10 and the Treasury are strongly aligned with the MoD in wanting to rebalance the UK economy towards defence, a notable shift from traditional Labour priorities of favouring spending on health and education. Healey quit Starmer’s government last month after a protracted row over defence spending, complaining that the then prime minister would not agree to a credible trajectory towards the 3.5% target by the end of the decade. In his resignation letter, Healey said the UK must set “a headmark date for 3% of