Sir Keir Starmer was pictured on the third row of a NATO photocall yesterday, prompting mockery and claims of a “snub” in some quarters. The British prime minister is among dozens of leaders and senior officials present at the alliance’s summit, where defence spending is expected to feature highly on the agenda.

As a founding member of the defensive organisation, Britain has often played a leading role in its running, underpinning the surprise of many at Starmer’s positioning in the traditional leaders’ photo. Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron were pictured front and centre whilst Mark Rutte, Giorgia Meloni and Volodymyr Zelensky were given positions on the second row, with Starmer sidelined in the third row. One user on X posted: “Zelensky who's country isn't even a member of NATO looks miffed because he is on the second row.

Sir Keir has vowed not to backtrack on his pledge not to raise taxes to fund increased defence spending.

He said: “Every time we've set out our defence spending commitments, so when we went to 2.5 per cent in 2027/28, we set out precisely how we would pay for it, that didn't involve tax rises.

“Clearly we've got commitments in our manifesto about not making tax rises on working people and we will stick to our manifesto commitments.”

Starmer has emphasised that increased funding is coming from cuts to foreign aid rather than from his proposed cuts to the welfare bill which are expected to total around £5 billion.

He added: “So, it's a misdescription to suggest that the defence spending commitment we've made is at the expense of money on welfare.”

It comes after Pierre Vandier, NATO's supreme allied commander "transformation" – in charge of updating the alliance's military structures – warned Russia may seek to "exploit cracks"and launch an "opportunistic attack" before members of the alliance begin spending 5% of GDP on defence.