𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The Government’s failure to sign off future defence funding plans feels like an act of treason – and it’s making Britain look like a joke on the world stage. And while dither and delay go hand in hand with this current administration, it has never been clearer that robust decision making is required against a backdrop of an unpredictable geo-political landscape.

Why is it taking so long to finalise and agree the future needs of our armed forces and find the cash needed to turn those plans into reality? It is a serious dereliction of duty and suggests that the defence of our nation has ceased to be a priority for those that govern us.

Ministers had promised to publish the Defence Investment Plan before Christmas, but it now looks like it will not see the light of day until after the local English, Welsh and Scottish elections on May 7. This is simply unacceptable.

The 10-year plan would lay out the weapons and kit that need to be ordered to ensure our armed forces are fit for the future. Reports suggest that one of the reasons for the delay is that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is at loggerheads with Downing Street over further cuts to the international aid budget to pay for an increase in defence spending.

If this is true it shows how out of touch the Chancellor is with the mood of the nation which is becoming increasingly alarmed with Britain’s inability to step up to the plate militarily when needed in a constantly changing world with multiple global threats.

The most recent example of this was the excruciating delays in deploying a Royal Navy vessel to protect our RAF base in Cyprus after it was targeted in a drone attack believed to be fired by Hezbollah in Lebanon. HMS Dragon finally reached Cyprus three weeks after the attack.

Successive governments have let down our armed forces and the consequences have never been so stark. In an interview with the BBC’s ‘The Briefing Room’, General Sir Richard Barrons gave a brutal assessment of the state of the British Army saying it is now so small that it could only “seize a small market town on a good day” – our military forefathers must be spinning in their graves.

Sir Richard is not only a former commander of Joint Forces Command but also one of the co-authors of last year’s Strategic Defence Review and his comments should be ringing alarm bells across Government. And while we see further delays to the Defence Investment Plan, British defence companies are reportedly making staff redundant and putting off investment decisions until the report is published.

The delayed publication of this plan not only demonstrates that UK defence is not a priority for this Government but is also contributing to UK unemployment and impacting on local economies where defence companies across the UK are based.

For a Chancellor who apparently is doing everything possible to drive economic growth, you would have thought even she would see the positive domestic opportunities in finding the cash to match the plan so British-based defence companies and their local communities can thrive.

The timing of this delayed plan matters hugely as there is a very good chance that Sir Keir Starmer will see a challenge to his leadership if Labour take a massive drubbing in the May elections as predicted. We know that the Prime Minister has committed to more defence spending and has indicated he wants to speed up the process of seeing the UK spend 3% of its national income on defence, but what if he is no longer in charge?

A change in PM to someone who is more on the left of the Labour Party could see an attitude change when it comes to defence spending and even further delays in planning and proper funding.

Angela Rayner, a frontrunner to replace Starmer, has a very shaky record when it comes to matters of defence and security having voted against renewing Trident – our nuclear weapons system – back in 2016.

The Defence Investment Plan must be published as soon as possible and the funding needed to achieve it found without further delay. If that means rinsing the international aid budget, then so be it.

Failure to do so will just add to the growing sense that Britain is vulnerable and a shadow of its former self on the global stage when it comes to its military capability.

This is not warmongering – it is simply about ensuring that our country is best placed to defend itself and support its allies when needed – something we continue to fail at with every passing moment.