A UK watchdog has determined that claims made by former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, the Wales Office, and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) regarding defence spending were misleading. The UK Statistics Authority stated that the assertion of an increase in defence spending by £270 billion was incorrect.
In March, Starmer told the House of Commons liaison committee, "We have already committed to 2.5% in 2027, and we will hit that. That means that, in this Parliament, we will spend £270bn more on defence than we would otherwise have done." Similar statements were later echoed by an MoD spokesperson in June and the Wales Office's X account, which posted on June 3 that "The UK government is increasing defence spending by £270bn over this Parliament to strengthen our national security."
However, Penny Young, interim chair of the UK Statistics Authority, clarified in a letter to Conservative shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge that the £270 billion figure represents the proposed overall defence spending from 2025-26 to 2028-29, not an increase in expenditure over the current Parliament. "We agree that it is incorrect and misleading to describe the £270bn as an increase in defence spending over the course of this Parliament, or to describe it as an extra £270bn," Young wrote.
The Wales Office has since deleted its post and informed the authority that the figure used was a mistake. The department has reviewed its press office lines and quality assurance processes to prevent future inaccuracies. The MoD has also stated that it has taken steps to ensure more precise language in future communications about defence spending figures. A UK government spokesperson confirmed that they had acknowledged the phrasing and taken immediate steps to rectify it.
Sir Keir Starmer resigned from Downing Street in July, succeeded by Andy Burnham. The Wales Office, a part of the UK government, works to represent Wales's interests within Westminster.