Executive summary
UK military spending is rising to the detriment of other public spending
The UK’s commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) target of spending 3.5 per cent of its GDP on defence by 2035 will require an additional £36 billion per year in current terms.
To pay for this, the government is redirecting funds from other government departments and threatening “eye-watering” cuts to public services at a time when many are on the brink of collapse.
The impacts are falling hardest on those least able to shoulder the burden, including through steep cuts to international development assistance and by reduced investment in public services and social security.
Education under strain
Education in the UK has suffered immensely during austerity, with real-terms funding falling by billions since 2010.
Increases to defence spending undermine prospects to close funding gaps, including for teacher pay, building refurbishment, and supporting students with special educational needs.
UK aid and development support to education globally has fallen by 80 per cent since 2016.
One in five children live within 50km of an armed conflict, and attacks on education are becoming increasingly common, rising by 50 per cent in 2024-25 compared with the previous two years.
Just 1.5 days of global military spending in 2025 could pay for an entire year of aid to education.
Rethinking security
Security is about more than borders and external threats. Insecurity is more often experienced through economic, climate, democratic, health and social deficits than an attack by a foreign power. These too have life or death consequences.
Lasting peace requires tackling the drivers of insecurity, which military action often cannot address but can exacerbate. • The UK needs a human centred-approach to security, which prioritises people’s wellbeing and creates the conditions for more equitable, peaceful societies. Security through economic justice
77 per cent of the British public would prefer the government raise taxes on the very richest than cut public services. • A two per cent tax on wealth above £10 million is becoming increasingly popular, including among millionaires.
True security requires an economy that measures success through the extent to which people are able to live secure, healthy and dignified lives, in the UK and around the world.
The Security We Choose: A call to action
The UK must balance the need to respond to genuine threats to the nation’s security with the responsibility to invest in the conditions for people to live secure lives, in the UK and globally