Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has said he wants the new NATO target for defence spending to be 2.5% of gross domestic product rather than the current 2%.
Mr Shapps said it would make a 'real difference' if the countries signed up to the military alliance met his proposed target. He told Kay Burley on Sky News: 'We're now saying we think that should be 2.5%. We think in a more dangerous world that would make sense. 'I will be arguing that, and I know that the prime minister feels strongly about it, when we go to the NATO 75th anniversary summit which is in Washington DC.
Speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at a press conference in Warsaw yesterday, the prime minister said he planned to steadily increase defence spending by the end of the decade, rising to 2.4% a year until 2027/28 - then hitting 2.5% by 2030/31. Funding will rise from £64.6bn in 2024 to £78.2bn in 2028, and then jump to £87bn in 2030/31. This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
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