Prime minister will bring upbeat message to adversarial Commons after a summer of policy announcements and improved poll ratings
Last week it emerged that John Healey, the chancellor, will not set out how the UK will raise defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030 in the budget in October. Instead, he will set out plans to raise defence spending in the spending review next year.
The revelation led to Healey being accused of hypocrisy because he resigned as defence secretary in Keir Starmer’s government after Starmer refused to commit to raising defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030 in the defence investment plan published this summer. Healey’s resignation contributed to Starmer deciding to step down, and Healey returning to government in a more senior role as Andy Burnham’s chancellor.
For the first time at the spending review, we will set out a clear path about how we will meet that Nato commitment in 2035, of 3.5% of GDP. And as part of setting out that clear path, we will set that target date for 3%.
