UK defence spending to rise as dangers increase - PM

The UK will increase its defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by the end of the decade, Boris Johnson has said.

As Nato members discussed their response to Russian aggression, the prime minister said the "cost of freedom" is "always worth paying".

He said it would allow the UK to invest in future air combat capabilities and adapt to a "more dangerous" world.

It comes after the defence secretary reportedly called for spending to rise to this level by 2028.

Ben Wallace said in a speech on Tuesday that investment in defence has to grow "before it's too late", but he later denied reports he had called for spending at 2.5% of GDP - a measure of the size of the nation's economy - in a letter to the prime minister.

A source close to Mr Wallace said he was "very grateful" for the budget increase and had "always been clear that as the threat changes, so should defence spending".

Announcing the increase at the Nato summit in Madrid, Mr Johnson said: "We need to invest for the long-term in vital capabilities... whilst simultaneously adapting to a more dangerous and more competitive world.

"The logical conclusion of the investments on which we propose to embark, these decisions, is that we'll reach 2.5% of GDP on defence by the end of the decade."

GDP, or gross domestic product, measures the size of the economy by adding together the total value of all the goods and services produced. It stood at £2.1 trillion last year.

A source told the BBC that, based on current figures, gradual increases to a spending level of 2.5% of GDP by 2030 would see the UK spend an additional £55.1bn on defence.

Last year, the UK spent £42.4bn on defence, which was a £2.5bn increase on the previous year.

Tobias Ellwood, chair of the Commons defence select committee, described the spending announcement as "too little, too late".

He said the UK was already planning to cut its target for the size of the Army by 10,000 troops, which "sends a clear message to Putin that we're not in it for the long haul".

The UK is now counting its support for Ukraine as part of its defence spending, bringing the current total to 2.3% of GDP.

Addressing questions about spiralling inflation due to the war in Ukraine, Mr Johnson told a news conference "the cost of freedom, as it were, is actually always worth paying".

He said that, unless Russia is stopped, Russian President Vladimir Putin would be able to commit further acts of aggression against neighbouring countries, causing "further oil shocks, further panics and more economic distress for the whole world".