Billions of pounds earmarked for “green” policies will now be spent on defence as the UK prepares plans drawn up by Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves. It comes as European leaders gather in London for a summit to look at ending the war in Ukraine and guaranteeing Ukraine’s security, amid fears that the US under Donald Trump’s leadership is reluctant to defend Europe.
Sir Keir will urge visiting leaders to boost their own defence budgets. And Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced that she is making changes to a £27.8 billion “National Wealth Fund” so the money can be spent on defence. The cash was previously set to be spent only on infrastructure projects including green energy schemes but it will now be possible to use it to invest in the UK’s defence industries. This funding is separate from the increase in defence spending announced by Sir Keir Starmer last week.
The Chancellor and Ukraine’s finance minister have also signed a £2.26 billion loan agreement, paid for with cash seized from frozen Russian assets.
Ms Reeves said: “We all know that has to be done. None of the ministers that I have spoken to are under any illusions about the importance of stepping up. We all recognise that the world has changed and our job as finance ministers is to make sure that money is available.”
She also said she hoped the UK would avoid trade tariffs that US President Donald Trump is threatening to impose on other European countries, because the US exports more to Britain than we sell to America.
Ms Reeves told a Sunday newspaper: “President Trump’s comments reflect the depth of the economic partnership between our two countries and the constructive dialogue he had with the Prime Minister.
“The British government will now build on that dialogue and continue to make the case for deeper trade between our economies that will make working people on both sides of the Atlantic better off.
“We don’t have a trade surplus with the US. I understand the concerns that they have about countries that run persistent, large current account surpluses with the US. We’re not one of those countries.
“We have balanced trade with the US. A million British people work for American firms. A million Americans work for British firms. So, our country’s economies are closely intertwined, and putting in barriers to trade doesn’t serve either of our interests.”
