John Healey presented his first budget Oct. 28 since becoming UK Chancellor of the Exchequer in July, saying that “reprioritization” in other departments would fill a £4.7 billion ($6.3 billion) gap in Britain’s Defence Investment Plan (DIP). Healey said he would also adopt this approach of “looking hard at public spending” to set out the details of how Britain will meet the NATO commitment of spending 3.5% of GDP on defense by 2035, and mark a target date for 3% in 2030, reported Reuters. “In today’s budget, I am fully funding the Defence Investment Plan, including through capital reprioritization across Whitehall. This honors the commitment made both by me—and by the prime minister,” he told Parliament. In other words, social spending is to be slashed in order to fund the war buildup.

Healey had quit his previous job as defense secretary in a dispute with then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer over what Healey viewed as Starmer’s failure to commit enough funding to the DIP to make it work. When Andy Burnham came in to replace Starmer, he brought Healey in as chancellor with the promise that he would have the freedom to close that £4.7 billion gap in the DIP and meet the NATO spending targets.