Sunak suggests he will not ‘shy away’ from making cuts to hit defence target

Asked at a press conference in Berlin whether his defence increase would mean tax rises and deep cuts, he said that was “not a fair characterisation”.

Yet the prime minister has faced some scepticism from economists over the cost of the commitment, which will be an additional £4.5bn by 2028-29, taking defence spending from approximately £73.8bn a year to £78.2bn.

Defence spending graphs for Nato members The 2.5% target will be reached only in 2030-31, which is beyond the horizon of official fiscal forecasts, meaning another £2.5bn a year will need to be found from 2028-29.

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Sunak’s defence commitment could prove to be academic if Labour, which has said it wants to see a fully funded plan to reach the 2.5% of GDP, wins the next election.

Sunak had travelled to Berlin from Poland, where Donald Tusk had given him a painting of Gdansk, where the Polish prime minister was a student activist in the late 1980s, by Iwona Deptuch-Dymowska.