Keir Starmer is set to count rural broadband and Heathrow’s third runway as defence spending to circumvent NATO rules as the Government makes plans to redraw the definition of national security. The Telegraph has the story.
The Government’s national security review, due to be published before a NATO summit next week, will expand the definition to include economic stability, food prices, supply chains, crime and the internet.
It could allow the UK to hit NATO’s new defence spending target of 5% of GDP without committing any further public money.
Mark Rutte, NATO’s Secretary General, has proposed member states spend 3.5% on core defence activities and a further 1.5% on related infrastructure.
Ministers are considering meeting the latter target by spending money on roads, strengthening bridges and increasing runway capacity, the Telegraph understands.
Cyber, energy and telecommunications security projects will also be offset against the goal.
While NATO countries will still be required to hit 3.5% of core defence spending each year – far higher than Sir Keir’s current pledge of 3% by the next Parliament – the additional 1.5% will come from other budgets.
The plans, first reported by Bloomberg, will include various infrastructure projects that have already been announced as “national security” spending, including a third runway at Heathrow Airport that is estimated to cost at least £42 billion.
Other projects to be allocated to the “defence” budget for NATO’s accounting purposes could include Project Gigabit, a £5 billion plan to upgrade rural broadband services, and a £1 billion pot to upgrade weak bridges and build the Lower Thames Crossing tunnel.
Relabelling a bunch of not really defence-linked projects that you were going to do anyway wouldn’t seem like the most effective way to prepare for the new militarised world order.
Worth reading in full.
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