Defence funding plan not enough to protect country, says military expert

David Hughes and David Lynch, Press Association

Sir Keir Starmer’s long-delayed plan for military spending will not be enough to prepare the country for war, an expert who helped draw up the UK Government’s defence review warned.

General Sir Richard Barrons, a co-author of the 2025 Strategic Defence Review, said the plan being published on Tuesday was “not going to crack the issue” of properly funding the nation’s armed forces.

The defence investment plan (Dip) involves an additional £15 billion for defence. The Prime Minister said it would see “game-changing investment” in drones and other modern equipment.

The Dip was meant to be published last year but was delayed by Whitehall wrangling over cash which eventually triggered the resignation of defence secretary John Healey.

Sir Richard said the fact of its publication counts as progress and there would be a “decent transformative element” to it.

“But it is still not going to crack the issue of, in order to defend the UK sufficiently well, sufficiently quickly, more has to be done sooner, and that requires more money than is currently on the table,” he said.

Sir Richard told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We’re not keeping up with our allies, we’re certainly not keeping up with our enemies, and we know that the US is no longer going to come and save European security in the face of a Russian threat.

“So until we come to terms with the fact that we have to find more money for defence sooner, and yes, it will be at the cost of other things we like more, we are simply not going to be ready to defend this country properly.”

Mr Healey quit in protest at the Dip, which he warned would likely fall short of meeting Britain’s commitments to the Nato alliance, which has tasked all member states with hiking core defence spending to 3.5% of national economic output by 2035.

Under new Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis, the Dip will now focus on ramping up the UK’s use of drones and autonomous weapons, funded by a £5 billion investment, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced.

He secured some extra money for the plan, taking the full settlement to around £15 billion, according to Chancellor Rachel Reeves – up from the £13.5 billion offered to Mr Healey but short of the £28 billion defence officials previously said was needed.

In a major speech at a defence firm on Tuesday, Sir Keir will set out how the Dip will accelerate Britain’s drone capabilities, as wars in both Ukraine and Iran have seen widespread use of the warfighting robots.

Speaking ahead of the Dip’s launch, the Prime Minister said: “This game-changing investment will strengthen our armed forces on land, at sea and in the air, ensuring our servicemen and women have the cutting-edge capabilities they need to deter evolving threats and keep the British people safe.

“At the same time, we are backing British innovation, British industry and British jobs and delivering opportunity to every corner of the country.

“Today’s defence investment plan will help drive growth across the UK, giving our industrial base the confidence, certainty and support it needs to develop and scale the technologies that will keep our country safe and secure long into the future.”