A chronic delay in the release of the government’s major defence investment plan has left the country less safe and undermined its credibility, a group of MPs has warned. The warning comes as Sir Keir Starmer faces a make-or-break moment over the blueprint for military spending, with the Prime Minister slated to announce the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan (DIP) on Thursday 11 June – though hints of yet another postponement have emerged after intense last-minute wrangling across Whitehall.
Leaked figures have put an extra £15 to £18 billion on the table, but the funds would mean cuts elsewhere, causing greatest annoyance in the Departments of Energy and Transport, which fear threats to net-zero and transport programmes. Ministry of Defence staff were called in at the weekend to rescramble figures that should have been worked through last summer, according to sources, raising the possibility that the Prime Minister will put off the announcement again.
“MPs warn delay in UK defence plan has left military less safe and undermined credibility.”
The DIP was promised in last year’s Strategic Defence Review – the government’s major plan for defence and security over the next decade. It is needed urgently for the meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels on 18 June and the summit of Nato leaders in Ankara on 7 and 8 July. Starmer and his ministers are expected to lay out what Britain can offer in military support at the G7 summit opening next Monday at Évian-les-Bains in France. He cannot afford to be the man without a plan, observers say.
A further delay, cancellation or postponement would be an even bigger story than the announcement itself. It would mean that the standing of Starmer and his government as a capable and reliable ally and military actor would be all but completely shot. Personally, the Prime Minister would face a credibility gap from which it would be almost impossible to recover. The armed services need the spending plan urgently – and the clock is ticking.