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Starmer and Badenoch will face off again (Image: Parliament)
Kemi Badenoch will once again face off against Keir Starmer at PMQs today, after a fortnight break during Parliament’s February recess.
The pair will likely clash over yesterday’s , with the Tory leader demanding answers about whether the sum is being artificially inflated by the PM’s planned Chagos sellout to Mauritus.
This morning the Defence Secretary also confessed the true cash boost for the Military is less than half what claimed in the Commons yesterday.
Ms Badenoch also faces pressure to perform from her own MPs after her last showing was criticised as lacklustre.
She may also raise the prospect of Sir Keir’s impending visit to meet President Trump at the White House, with the PM jetting off this afternoon.
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Healey: Trump will ‘welcome’ UK’s hikes in defence spending
Sir will travel to Washington on Wednesday for talks with the US president.
Asked on Sky News whether he thinks Mr Trump will be welcoming the Prime Minister given this announcement, Defence Secretary John Healey said “I do” and suggested that Mr Trump has indicated as such.
“The new defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, said publicly look, ‘’s step was a strong step from an enduring partner and the US-UK relationship’.
“They are our closest security ally, we are strong partners on trade, on economic growth, on technology.
“And will be saying to President Trump, look, we have a special depth to our relationship that goes back decades, not just on security and defence, but that’s at its heart.
“And will say we want to see that relationship go from strength to strength.”
Cartlidge: Defence spending figures ‘don’t seem to be completely right’
New figures shared on the rise in defence spending by the Government “don’t seem to be completely right”, the Shadow Defence Secretary said.
James Cartlidge told Times Radio: “It’s in the national interest that we increase defence spending, so I do support that in principle.
“Obviously, we’ve got some questions to follow up on some of what was said in terms of the figures because they don’t seem to be completely right in the cold light of day, it’s fair to say.
“But we obviously need to look at that, understand what it means, because there was this £13.4 billion extra – that is the entire aid budget and the aid budget is being cut by, we understand about 40%, so we’re looking at where the difference arises.”
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Defence Secretary refuses to comment on Chagos Island deal
Defence Secretary John Healey has declined to say whether the increase in defence spending includes funding being used for the Chagos Islands deal.
The UK is in talks with Mauritius about handing over sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory, but leasing back the strategically important Diego Garcia military base which is used by the US.
A figure for the value of the deal has not been disclosed, but it has been reported at a cost of £90 million per year.
Asked on Times Radio if the agreement being negotiated with Mauritius was being accounted for in the funding increase, John Healey said: “This is about our defence spending. It’s about our mainstream defence budget.
“It meets an election commitment to meet 2.5% (of GDP spent on defence) at least three years earlier than anyone expected.
“And as far as the Chagos Islands go, that’s a deal that’s in the pipeline. It’s not yet signed and not yet ratified in any treaty that will be necessary before Parliament.”
John Healey arrives at Downing Street (Image: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publis)
Defence at top of agenda
The Defence Secretary has suggested the real-terms increase in defence spending year-on-year will be only around half the £13.4 billion figure cited by the Prime Minister.
John Healey said in real terms, the figure “would be something over £6 billion” and claimed the “definition of defence numbers can be done in different ways”.
Ministers have been accused of playing “silly games with numbers” over their assertion on Tuesday that the increase in defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 would mean £13.4 billion more would be spent on defence every year.
Starmer heads to Washington to meet Donald Trump
The commitment to increase spending comes ahead of the Prime Minister flying to Washington to meet President . Mr Trump has repeatedly called for European nations to increase the amount they are putting into defence budgets.
Mr Healey told Sky News he thinks the US president will welcome the move and said the PM will be saying to his counterpart: “We have a special depth to our relationship that goes back decades, not just on security and defence, but that’s at its heart.
“ will say we want to see that relationship go from strength to strength.”
Sir Keir will follow French President Emmanuel Macron in visiting Mr Trump in Washington DC, and Ukrainian leader is expected to visit on Friday.
(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on February 25, 2025 shows US President Donald Trump (L (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Badenoch and Starmer to clash at midday PMQs
will face a barrage of questions over his “iron clad” plans to hike defence spending at Prime Minister’s Questions today. The insist “numbers don’t add up” on his commitments and Defence Secretary John Healey declined to say whether the increase includes funding being used for the Chagos Islands deal.
The Express’s political team will bring you the latest from the Commons at midday.