Defense has become a hot topic in the run-up to the next British general election, which is likely to be held in October. Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, has been at great pains to differentiate himself from his far-left predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, who advocated terminating Britain’s nuclear deterrent. As Starmer asserted when he became party leader, “never again will Labour go into an election again not trusted on national security.”

Starmer has attacked the governing Conservative Party, arguing that Britain’s forces, notably the Army, have shrunk during the 14 years of Tory rule. As John Healey, Labour’s shadow defense secretary, never tires of pointing out, “when Labour was last in Government in 2010, Britain was spending 2.5% of GDP on Defence, the British Army had over 100,000 troops and satisfaction with service life was 60% … the British Army is now the smallest size since Napoleon.” Indeed, measured in real terms, military spending will not have reached 2010 levels even with the series of increases that have taken place since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Since Labour leads the Tories in almost every poll by at least 20 points, Starmer’s ability to turn the party around on defense is certainly welcome. Starmer has promised to restore the defense share of Britain’s GDP from just over 2.2 percent to 2.5 percent, considerably above NATO’s 2 percent goal and well above the actual spending........

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