UK faces $38 billion test of its defense budget seriousness

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s U.K. government is facing a test of its commitment to European security and the United Kingdom’s special relationship with the United States.

The test is expensive, coming in at $38 billion.

Both the Sun and the Times newspapers reported that Gen. Richard Knighton, the U.K.’s equivalent of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the government that there is a $38 billion gap between pledged defense funding over the next four years and what is needed to deliver on pledged capabilities. The gap is said to flow largely from inflation and cost overruns. The Times reported that Starmer is “deeply unhappy” with the spending gap and that the British Army is likely to bear the brunt of capability cuts to balance the budget sheets.

That would be unacceptable.

As the Washington Examiner

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