Does anyone really think that spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence would make Britain ‘battle-ready’, as Keir Starmer claims? (Assuming, that is, that he really did spend all that money rather than merely have an aspiration to do so).
Here is the statistic of the day, to remind us of what a wartime economy really looks like. In 2023, according to the World Bank, Ukraine spent 36.7 per cent of its GDP on defence. And no, the reason that percentage is so high is not because Ukraine’s GDP collapsed: on the contrary, Ukraine’s GDP in 2023 was higher than in any year except the Covid rebound year of 2021, plus 2008 and 2013. Russia, in trying to roll over a smaller neighbour, spent 7 per cent of GDP on defence – or rather, on offence in its case.
How quickly could the public accept a switch from social spending to military spending?
No one is suggesting that it would be a sensible strategy for Britain to emulate Ukraine and spend a third or more of national output on defence at the moment.
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