LONDON \u2014 As the U.K. is boosting military spending, the government is allocating additional funds to the local industry along with plans to bring foreign contractors to Britain, according to Luke Pollard, the nation\u2019s recently appointed minister for defense procurement and industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an extra 5 billion pounds [$6.77 billion] in our defense budget. It\u2019s the largest uplifting of our budget since the Cold War,\u201d Pollard said in a keynote speech at the 2025 DSEI UK show in London. He was referring to the additional funds allocated for the years 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n
Pollard said defense spending should be considered the backbone of the U.K.\u2019s economic growth, and for this to hold true, the country must intensify its efforts to attract investments by both British and foreign defense companies.<\/p>\n
In his new role, Pollard declared he will also strive to make military procurement spending more efficient, but the minister did not name any particular programs which he intends to target with these efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not that we are just spending more on defense, we have to reform our defense,\u201d Pollard said.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 8, the minister presented the government\u2019s Defence Industrial Strategy to the House of Commons, the lower chamber of the British parliament. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a plan supported by \u00a3773 million of investment \u2014 a plan to make defense an engine for economic growth in every nation and region of our country,\u201d Pollard told lawmakers. \u201cAll the pledges made today can only be met because this Labour government have committed the largest sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the cold war: 2.6% of GDP by 2027, and 3.5% by 2035, alongside our NATO allies.\u201d<\/p>\n