Reeves grudgingly resorts to departmental salami slicing to fund UK defence budget

Starmer shows no will to pursue the main options for rising commitments: spending cuts, tax rises or borrowing

When Keir Starmer wanted to promise Donald Trump that the UK would increase defence spending, he decided to fund it by slashing the UK’s aid budget – losing a cabinet minister, Anneliese Dodds, in the process.

This time around, with John Healey’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) demanding an additional £18.5bn over four years to fund the defence investment plan, there was no such lever to hand.