The PM doesn't rule out cuts to non-protected Whitehall departments, beyond health and education, to fund the boost to 2.5 per cent
But questions remained over how the increase in defence spending – which Downing Street said would cost an extra £4.5bn per year by 2029 – would be funded. Speaking to journalists at a press conference in Berlin, alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Mr Sunak insisted the increase of defence spending over the next six years was fully funded.
“But we have made a choice and I am not shying away from that choice,” he said. “All governing is about prioritising. I have decided to prioritise defence because I think that is the right thing to do for our country.” Professor Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director general of the Royal United Services Institute, said Labour would likely be forced to raise taxes or cut spending for other departments if they won the election to fund the boost to the armed forces.
In this scenario, due to inflation, this would see the current 2.32 per cent of GDP fall below the Nato target of 2 per cent by 2030, something the UK Government would not have sanctioned. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said unprotected areas of public spending will now face cuts of around 4 per cent a year after 2025 to help meet the“For decades, steady reductions in the amount spent on defence allowed for extra spending on things like the NHS without a need to increase taxes.