Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of when defence spending will reach 2.5% of GDP; whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of raising defence spending to 3% of GDP; and if he will have discussions with the Leader of the House on finding time to debate the Early Day Motion in the name of the hon. Member for Clacton, number 455, on Future defence spending.

The government has consistently prioritised defence spending. The Ministry of Defence was the first department to get certainty on its budgets in this Parliament. This settlement was the largest sustained spending increase in defence since the end of the Cold War, with a £24 billion uplift in cash terms over the four-year period. In March 2023, we also provided an extra £11 billion for defence and national security priorities over the next five years, with £4.95 billion over the next two years.

The government’s aspiration over the longer-term is to invest 2.5% of GDP on defence, when the fiscal and economic circumstances allow.