{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/6583019ebbd71a00175001c8/6a43e33f6771af4aa4f612ee?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Starmer ‘fudges’ defence spending to avoid Trump clash at Nato. Will it work?","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/6583019ebbd71a00175001c8/1782833927298-6fe792ce-44ab-4efd-988b-97d4f925152b.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>As the US and Iran meet in Qatar, the UK has unveiled £15 billion in defence spending - but is it all a giant “fudge” to avoid humiliation by Donald Trump at next week’s Nato summit?&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Announcing the Defence Investment Plan, Prime Minister Keir Starmer boasted it meant the UK is spending 4.2% of GDP on wider security. On today’s episode of <em>Iran: the Latest</em>, Venetia Rainey talks to <em>Ukraine: the Latest</em> host and defence associate editor Dom Nicholls about why the numbers don’t add up.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Plus, they unpack the UK’s high-stakes gamble on exquisite uncrewed autonomous aircraft and vessels and why the UK is ignoring the vital lesson from wars in Ukraine and Iran: expensive tech cannot replace raw mass.</p><p><br></p><p>CONTRIBUTORS:</p><p>Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey</p><p>Dom Nicholls, Ukraine: the Latest host and defence associate editor @DomNicholls&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk</a></p><p><br></p><p>CONTENT REFERENCED:</p><p>Gulf plans to cut the US out of Iran deal</p><p>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/06/30/gulf-states-plan-to-cut-the-us-out-of-iran-deal/</p><p><br></p><p>Iran says frozen $6bn will soon be returned as part of peace deal</p><p>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/06/29/iran-frozen-assets-us-sanctions-peace-deal/</p><p><br></p><p>Producer: Max Bower and Rachel Porter</p><p>Executive Producers: Venetia Rainey &amp; Louisa Wells</p><p>► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor</p><p>► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk</p><p>► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/</p><p><br></p><p>Highlights</p><p><br></p><ul><li>Starmer ‘fudges’ defence spending to avoid Trump clash at Nato. Will it work?</li><li>The plan that proves the UK hasn’t learned the mass drone lesson from Iran and Ukraine</li></ul><p><br></p>","author_name":"The Telegraph"}