NATO ‘exasperated’ by UK military decline as Labour accused of ‘dereliction of duty’ | Politics | News
Labour is being urged to release its defence spending plans after months of delays (Image: Getty)
Britain’s brave armed forces are being “humiliated” by a defence spending impasse which has left NATO allies “exasperated”. Alliance officials are understood to be increasingly concerned by Britain’s declining military power as pressure grows on Sir Keir Starmer after scathing criticism from the co-authors of last year’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR).
Former NATO chief and Labour defence secretary Lord George Robertson accused the Prime Minister’s government of “corrosive complacency” towards defence, putting national security and safety “in peril”. The government’s failure to publish its 10-year defence spending plans has alarmed allies and put UK industry in “paralysis”. A source with knowledge of NATO warned Britain’s status in the alliance is being undermined by the delays, accusing Labour of a “dereliction of duty”.
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Lord George Robertson (right) accused Sir Keir Starmer’s government of ‘corrosive complacency’ (Image: Getty)
“NATO allies are exasperated by the utter paralysis and humiliation of a once proud nation and leader in NATO,” the insider said.
“Actually, it’s a combination of exasperation and sorrow — they’re too polite to laugh directly in our faces but they cannot comprehend how we have gone from a position of leadership and strength to gross moral turpitude.”
They warned many members are now viewing the UK as a “declining middle power, but declining at a faster rate than other similar nations”.
Sir Keir Starmer said he disagreed with Lord George Robertson’s scathing criticism (Image: Getty)
They said the UK is not meeting its NATO obligations and agreed with recent warnings that the country is in a situation akin to 1936, three years before the outbreak of the Second World War.
“We are at a tipping point,” they added.“Why is the Government not responding?”
The Defence Investment Plan (DIP), which is supposed to set out how the SDR will be funded, was due to be published in the autumn.
However, it still hasn’t seen the light of day amid what has been described as a ‘deadlock’ between the Ministry of Defence, Treasury and Downing Street.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has reportedly proposed a “limited” hike on defence spending by less than £10 billion over the next four years.
The military is already understood to be facing a £28 billion funding black hole for the period, with reports suggesting top brass are meeting this week to find £3.5 billion in cuts.
In Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch grilled Sir Keir, saying the military are “at the end of their tether” waiting on the DIP.
The Conservative leader: “There are still two weeks of the parliamentary session left so why won’t the Prime Minister publish the Defence Investment Plan before then?”
Sir Keir, who said he disagreed with Lord Robertson’s stinging criticism, did not respond to this directly but declared Labour has “put in place the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War” and is spending £270 billion over this Parliament.
On Tuesday, Lord Robertson warned the UK is underprepared for war due to the “ever-expanding welfare budget”.
He also accused “non-military experts in the Treasury” of “vandalism”.
Former Army intelligence officer Philip Ingram said the Labour grandee’s intervention is the most significant of its kind since the Cold War.
He said: “[Lord Robertson] is a politician that gets it, he gets the threat, he can see what is coming along and he can see the danger that there is to the country.
“He can see that the Treasury’s naivety of trying to save a few pennies today means that we are in danger of housing to spend billions more tomorrow because the world is in such an unstable place.”
Two defence trade bodies have called on the Government to urgently provide clarity on the DIP.
Andrew Kinniburgh, Make UK Defence Director-General, said it needs to be published “as quickly as possible” alongside accelerating defence spending to 3.5% of GDP.
Emma Baker, senior defence policy adviser at the ADS Group, said some firms fear they could collapse due to the holdup which has created a “big procurement vacuum”.
It is thought the plan will not be published until after the local elections purdah period.
A Government spokesman said it is being finalised and will be released “as soon as possible”.
