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Starmer Flags £4.7bn Defence Gap, Mulls Borrowing

7/2/2026

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Story summary
  • Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the defence investment plan now faces a £4.7 billion shortfall.
  • He suggested the gap could be covered by borrowing, despite earlier pledges against such financing.
  • Chancellor Kemi Badenoch pressed him on the shortfall, prompting Starmer to say the £22 billion Conservative deficit could fund it.
  • Starmer appeared unusually angry in the session, later describing the exchange as personal catharsis.