UK Defense Pledge to Alter British State, IFS Says

Delivering the UK government’s pledge to lift defense spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product in a decade would fundamentally “reshape” the state and require cuts to other services equivalent to eliminating all spending on police, border force, courts and prisons, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said.

Britain, alongside NATO allies, has promised to increase defense spending to the target from 2.3% last year, a cost estimated at £36 billion ($48 billion) – or £500 per person – in today’s money, the think tank said in a report published Friday. To cover the commitment, either income tax or value-added tax would have to rise by as much as 4 percentage points.