Sir Keir Starmer refused to guarantee that defence spending would reach 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2034 as he insisted it was an "ambition".

The Government has promised to spend 2.5% of GDP from April 2027 with a goal of reaching 3% in the next parliament.

The Prime Minister told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "What I said at the election in 2024 is that we would get to 2.5% and I was pressed time and again 'what precise date' and I said 'as soon as I can be absolutely clear with a firm date, a firm commitment that we will keep to', because I had seen the previous government make commitments about this percent or that percent with no plan behind it, I'm not going down that road.

"Therefore, what you can take from this is - yes - that 3% but I am not, as the Prime Minister of a Labour Government, going to make a commitment as to the precise date, until I couldn't be sure precisely where the money is coming from, how we can make good on that commitment.

"Because I don't believe in performative fantasy politics, and certainly not on defence and security."