Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the governments of NATO countries which spend less than two per cent of GDP on defence.

The United Kingdom meets the Defence Investment Pledge from the NATO summit in Wales, and has committed to do so for the rest of this decade. NATO's ability to deter potential adversaries requires modern capabilities, and these need appropriate funding. Government ministers regularly encourage Allies to fulfil the commitments they have made to spend two per cent of GDP on defence by 2024 (and 20 per cent of that on equipment). Better burden-sharing is an important issue for the new US Administration, and we expect this to be a focus of discussion at the NATO Defence Ministerial Meeting later this month.