To govern is to choose. Keir Starmer’s decision to raise defence spending and cut foreign aid was a politically defining one. It exemplified No 10’s willingness to demolish liberal-left shibboleths – on immigration and much else – as it adapts to a new era. Though Starmer announced the reduction in development spending from 0.5 per cent of GDP to 0.3 per cent with regret, this Downing Street knows that few voters will mourn it (64 per cent believe the UK spends too much on aid).
Starmer’s policy reflects contemporary factors: the darkening geopolitical landscape and Donald Trump’s second victory. But it has echoes in Labour history. Government aides recall Clement Attlee’s rearmament for the Korean War which prompted the introduction of NHS prescription charges (and the cabinet resignations of Harold Wilson and Aneurin Bevan).
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