Wes Streeting has taken charge of the Ministry of Defence with a blunt warning: the £15bn increase in military spending announced by the last government is not yet fully funded, and every penny must be spent wisely. Speaking at the Farnborough International Airshow on Monday, the new defence secretary said he wanted to bring the same “mantra” he used as health secretary – “maximising value for money and cutting waste” – to the armed forces, arguing that investment must come hand-in-hand with “modernisation”.
The spending pledge, unveiled by Sir Keir Starmer in his final days as prime minister, was part of a long-delayed defence investment plan (Dip) that followed a row in government which led to John Healey quitting as defence secretary. Healey is now chancellor and faces the task of finding the extra money he believed the last government failed to deliver to keep the UK safe. The Dip states that defence spending by the end of the decade will reach 2.7% of gross domestic product (GDP), short of the Nato target of 3.5% by 2035 that Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he wants to honour.
“Defence Secretary Wes Streeting says £15bn military spending boost is not fully funded, vowing to cut waste.”
Streeting, pressed on whether he supports the ambition of raising spending to 3% by 2030, said fiscal policy is “a matter for the chancellor”. He added: “What I will not do, because I think it would not only be limiting to my time in this post, but potentially ending of my time in this post, is to write the chancellor's next budget and next spending review for him.” He insisted he would “put the best possible case for defence to the Treasury”, and replied “absolutely not” when asked if he was “trying to do defence on the cheap”.
The government has already “agreed more than £11.8bn worth of contracts” in the 10 days since the publication of the Dip, Streeting said. But the shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, has questioned whether Burnham will increase spending to 3% in the current Parliament, which is due to run until 2029. Writing on X, Cartlidge asked: “Or is it still a vague 'ambition' for the next Parliament - as late as 2034?”
Streeting’s aim, he said, is to make the UK a “strong, dependable ally” while also supporting jobs at home. The question of who will pay for the promised increase – and when – now hangs over a defence review that has yet to begin in earnest.