UK Defence Spending Plan Delay Sparks Criticism

Sir Keir Starmer is under fire for failing to provide a timeline for the publication of the government's military funding plan. The prime minister is facing growing pressure to set out when the much-delayed blueprint will appear, as talks with the Treasury continue.

The Labour peer who carried out a review of defence capability last year, Lord Robertson, launched a scathing public attack on the hold-up, accusing the government of 'corrosive complacency' amid rising threats around the world.

Defence Funding Negotiations

Ministers have not denied reports that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has requested billions in further funding to buy equipment following an internal assessment by officials at the department last year. This came in the wake of Lord Robertson's review in June, setting out plans for extra ammunition, next-generation fast jets, drones, and new attack submarines to upgrade Britain's war-fighting capabilities.

Negotiations with the Treasury over funding have held up the publication of a 10-year defence investment plan, which was originally due in autumn last year. At Prime Minister's Questions, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch pushed Sir Keir to publish the plan before the current session of Parliament ends in the coming weeks.

Sir Keir replied that it would be published 'as soon as possible' but declined to offer a specific date. He hit back at Lord Robertson's criticism, adding he did not agree with his comments and adding that Labour had increased defence funding, including by making the 'difficult decision' to cut spending on overseas aid last year.

Reaction from MPs

In reply, Badenoch accused the prime minister of 'prosecuting past governments' rather than reassuring defence companies of 'what he is going to do'. In a subsequent statement in Parliament, Defence Minister Luke Pollard insisted the government was 'not waiting' on the investment plan to announce further defence projects, but was 'working flat out to' get the document published.

However, he faced pressure from Labour MP Tan Dhesi, who chairs the defence select committee, who warned that further delay to the plan risked 'further damage to our defence-industrial base'. Speaking to the BBC's Politics Live, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy conceded the government needed to find additional funding for defence, and this would involve 'difficult decisions' on public spending.

The MoD's budget is due to rise by 3.6% in real terms by 2029, under departmental spending plans fixed last year. The investment plan is meant to replace decade-long 'equipment plans' released on a rolling yearly basis until 2022, when the then-Conservative government halted publication whilst it assessed the effect of 'extraordinary inflation' on its plans.