UK to boost defence spending and cut aid

Newshour

BBC

News, Daily News

4.4 • 984 Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, has announced an increase in defence spending to two point five percent of GDP by 2027. International development aid will be cut to pay for the rise. Sir Keir said he'd been forced to act by exceptional circumstances. He meets President Trump in Washington on Thursday.

Also, Ukrainian officials say a deal has been reached with the United States on the joint exploitation of Kyiv's mineral riches. Such an agreement has been a key demand of President Trump.

We have a special report from eastern Congo on the terrible cost of the rebel advance.

And as the impeachment trial of south Korea's president has its final hearing, we'll hear from the man who thinks he could replace him-- Ahn Cheol-soo, a member of the National Assembly from the president's own party, the PPP.

(Photo credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to News Hour. It's coming to you live from the BBC World Service studios in central London.
0:09.9	I'm Tim Franks. And in about 15 minutes, we'll have the story that broke very late night in Ukraine shortly before we came on air, and that is Ukrainian officials saying a deal has been reached
0:21.3	between Ukraine and the US on the joint exploitation of Ukraine's mineral resources.
0:28.9	We'll have more on that, as I say, in about 15 minutes.
0:33.1	We're beginning the program, though, with a striking announcement from the British Prime Minister
0:37.3	today,
0:37.9	an increase in defence spending paid for by a major raid on the international aid budget.
0:45.1	And all coming just a couple of days before the Prime Minister Kirstama is due at the White House
0:48.9	to meet a president who has long railed against what he says are the feeble levels of defence spending by European allies.
0:56.4	The figures, first of all, within a couple of years, says the Prime Minister,
1:00.6	the defence budget will rise from 2.3% of gross domestic product,
1:04.6	in other words, the nation's economic output, to 2.5%.
1:09.1	And then within 10 years or so, the plan is to get to 3% GDP. There's a bit of a
1:15.5	dispute about how much cash that will actually amount to, at least in the short term, but the BBC
1:20.4	number crunches reckon it'll be about an extra $7 billion worth. This will be paid for by
1:26.3	slashing the aid budget from 0.5% of GDP to 0.3%.
1:30.6	Mr Starmat said that the threat from Russia demanded a major change.
1:36.1	Putin's aggression does not stop in Ukraine. Russian spy ships menace our waters.
1:43.3	Russian planes enter our airspace. Russian planes enter our airspace.
1:46.8	Russian cyber attacks hit our NHS.
1:49.9	And just seven years ago, there was a Russian chemical weapons attack in broad daylight on the streets of Salisbury.
1:59.9	We can't hide from this.
	...

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