At the NATO summit, Keir Starmer addressed the grim message in the National Security Strategy that Brits need to prepare for the threat of war on home soil
Mirror’s Lizzy Buchan discusses key points from the NATO summit
Keir Starmer had a chilling warning for Brits at the NATO summit- the homeland faces danger on “a daily basis”.
The new National Security Strategy said yesterday that the British public needs to prepare for the threat of war on home soil.
I asked the Prime Minister at a press conference to spell out how worried the public needs to be about threats the country faces. His response was stark.
He told me: “It is a mistake to think that the only threat we face is external and far off. We do face threats at home all of the time on a daily basis.”
The PM pointed to ever more sophisticated cyber attacks and security threats, and said Britain needed to step up its defences to face down these challenges.
One of the key developments from this NATO summit has been a commitment by members to hike defence and security spending to 5% by 2035.
The promise was stitched up in advance to offer a win to Donald Trump, who loomed large over the summit like a big orange cloud.
The US President has repeatedly claimed that European countries have been freeloading off America for years. At a NATO summit in 2018, he claimed: “Many countries owe us a tremendous amount of money from many years back.”
Mark Rutte, the NATO General Secretary, fawned over Mr Trump, saying the defence spending commitment had only happened because of him.
In a cringeworthy moment, he said “sometimes daddy has to use strong words” – referring to Mr Trump’s recent on-camera rant, when he said Iran and Israel “don’t know what the f*** they’re doing” over a ceasefire.
Mr Trump clearly revelled in this, saying: “He likes me, I think he likes me if he doesn’t, I’ll let you know, I’ll come back and I’ll hit him hard okay.
“He did, he did it [in] a very affectionate [way], daddy, hear my daddy.”
The bizarre exchange shows how much Mr Trump is dominating the world stage, and how carefully other world leaders need to flatter and cajole him to keep him on side.
NATO leaders are desperate to keep him engaged in the defensive alliance, and there were whispers at the summit that the top talks may have shortened due to his short attention span.
Mr Trump didn’t walk out early and avoided insulting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky again – both big wins.
The UK side appeared to be happy with how things had gone, with announcements on increased defence spending and plans to buy nuclear-capable fighter jets designed a statement of intent in such volatile times.
Mr Starmer’s words and actions show how seriously the UK Government is taking the growing threats to Britain.
But the doubts hanging over Mr Trump’s commitment to European security have added urgency.