The German chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz, has won a vote in parliament to allow a huge increase in state borrowing that is set to super-charge the country’s military spending.

Germany’s incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz has expressed “confidence” about Tuesday’s make-or-break vote in parliament over his plans to unlock up to €1tn for the country’s armed forces and ageing infrastructure.

What happens today, here in Berlin, will impact the entire future of Europe's defence and its ongoing support for Ukraine. Germany's Parliament, the Bundestag, is voting on whether to take the brakes off defence spending.