Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a significant boost to defence spending during a speech at the Defence conference in London.The Prime Minister committed to "the largest sustained increase since the Cold War", amounting to £13.4 billion year on year.The announcement comes amid what Starmer described as "a new, more dangerous era of history".Starmer emphasised the importance of deepening partnerships with allies across Europe and the United States."To the United States, an indispensable ally for our economic and national security," he stated.The Prime Minister revealed that talks with the US have been ongoing, with more details to follow."I will always act in our national interest for workers, businesses and families," he pledged.WATCH CLIP ABOVE FOR MORE
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00:00task with relish and we must use this moment to do the same deepening our partnerships with
00:09allies old and new from across europe to meet the defense challenges of our age to the united states
00:18an indispensable ally for our economic and national security as you know talks with the
00:25us have been ongoing and you'll hear more from me about that later today but make no mistake i will
00:33always act in our national interest for workers businesses and families to deliver security and
00:41renewal for our country because the world has changed decisively i mean i remember and some of
00:53you uh will also too the day the berlin wall came down in 1989 a landmark moment for my generation
01:07a sense of freedom of possibility of peace european countries finally free to choose their own future
01:16i didn't think then that in my lifetime i would see russian tanks entering a european country again
01:27yet here we are and here we stand resolutely with the people of ukraine together with our allies
01:36showing the strength of our values as well as the value of our strength
01:41now a few weeks ago i was with the prime minister of new zealand to visit our forces delivering operation
01:51interflex in wiltshire this is a multinational military operation that has trained more than 50 000 ukrainian
02:01troops for the front line men and women who are not soldiers by trade far from it
02:10their accountants their accountants their builders business people you name it who stepped up from
02:17their lives stepped away from their families and as veterans did 80 years ago answered the call to
02:25defend freedom and liberty in their homeland and as these brave men and women leave their training
02:32in britain in britain and head to the front line of freedom they're applauded by their british trainers
02:40i've seen this a couple of times now it's a really humbling sight a sign of our support
02:47and solidarity in their struggle pride and admiration at their courage
02:55because in this country we know this isn't just a fight for freedom and democracy in ukraine
03:02no it's a new more dangerous era of history a period of global instability that fuels insecurity for
03:13working people here at home the british people have already paid a price for putin's aggression in ukraine
03:20with rising bills and prices russia already menaces our security they've launched cyber attacks on our
03:30nhs spread disinformation online and and we cannot forget just a few years ago a chemical weapons attack
03:40on our streets in salisbury in broad daylight in the heart of england no the battle lines in ukraine
03:51are the front line for western values and the argument that defines this age is simple national security
04:01is economic security and that's why we're boosting defense spending with the largest sustained increase
04:08since the cold war an increase of 13.4 billion pounds year on year