The UK's credibility with its allies has been “undermined” by delays in publishing the government's long-awaited Defence Investment Plan, a parliamentary watchdog has warned — as ministers eye up billions in cuts to hospitals, train lines and housing to fund the military.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the hold-up, which means the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) will not be released until just before a Nato summit in Turkey beginning on July 7, has made procuring new equipment “more expensive” and is “hindering the government’s attempt to modernise the Armed Forces”. Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the committee’s chair, said the nation had “gone years without a credible plan for UK military capability”.
“Defence plan delays undermine UK credibility; ministers eye cuts to hospitals and rail to fund military.”
“Excuses to the effect of ‘taking the time to get the details right’ simply do not cut it,” he said, adding that ministers should “apologise” for the delay and consider the message sent to “the public, as well as the UK’s allies and its adversaries”.
The plan was originally due last autumn but has been repeatedly put back amid wrangling inside Cabinet over how to pay for it. The DIP is expected to cost between £15bn and £18bn, and reports suggest there is a funding gap of around £28bn in existing plans. Nato chief Mark Rutte has said Russia could be ready to use military force against the alliance within five years.
David Lammy, the deputy prime minister and justice secretary, insisted on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that the pledge to reach 3% of national income on defence is “absolutely sacrosanct” and “the money will be found”. But to raise the cash, the government is considering cutting capital spending by 1% across all departments to free up around £6bn by the end of the Parliament, according to The Sunday Times. Net zero and transport are expected to face the deepest reductions, meaning billions less for hospitals, railways and housing upgrades currently funded by capital budgets.
Lammy suggested he would accept cuts in his own department, telling the BBC: “The first purpose of any government is defence of the nation.” Asked whether he would give up part of the justice budget, he said he would not comment on Treasury talks but repeated that the money will be found. The government has already committed to spending 2.6% of GDP on defence by 2027 and 3% when economic conditions allow, with an extra £270bn across this Parliament branded a “generational increase” by the Ministry of Defence.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham described the failure to deliver the DIP as “a threat to British jobs and skills and a threat to national security now and in the future”. An MoD spokesman said the plan would “fix the outdated, overcommitted and underfunded programme we inherited” and that the prime minister is “determined to publish it before the Nato summit”. Defence Secretary John Healey told the Commons on Monday that Sir Keir Starmer was “determined to publish” the blueprint — but with cabinet talks still ongoing, the precise shape of the cuts remains unclear.