Chancellor Healey to shelve defence spending target - report

28th Aug 2026 09:16

(Sharecast News) - Chancellor John Healey will reportedly shelve his own target of spending 3% of Britain's GDP on defence by 2030 when he presents his first Budget in October.

According to the Financial Times, which cited government insiders, Healey's Budget will focus instead on filling a defence equipment funding gap of nearly £5bn left behind by former prime minister Keir Starmer, amounting to about £1.2bn a year. But much bigger decisions on an uplift in defence spending will be delayed until a Treasury spending review next year.

One government figure said: "The immediate priority is to fund the defence investment plan that was published by Keir Starmer and the chancellor will set out more details on that at the Budget."

They added: "Beyond that, at the spending review we'll set out a clear path to meet our 3.5 per cent Nato target in 2035 and set a target date for us to hit 3 per cent on that path. The spending review is the right place to set a target date."

The chancellor had previously insisted that Britain must increase defence spending to 3% by 2030, mainly to address a growing threat from Russia.

In his resignation letter to Keir Starmer in June, the former defence secretary said: "As we have regularly discussed, I am certain that a headmark date for 3 per cent of GDP on defence in 2030 is what Britain must set."