Since 2021, it has slipped from third to 12th place within Nato on defence spending as a percentage of GDP. Welfare spending is the most effective form of short-term stimulus spending; UK growth is so low that diverting that spending to defence could trigger a recession. Neither a customs union nor single market alignment would remove the sea border between Britain and Northern Ireland – even together, they would not remove it completely. It receives just 1 per cent of UK defence procurement spending, the lowest of any region and one-third the national average. Even Sinn Féin has been sanguine about the work arriving in Northern Ireland, welcoming the less overtly military contracts and saying nothing about the rest.

Source: The Irish Times January 08, 2026 09:00 UTC