Keir Starmer’s decision to cut billions of pounds of infrastructure spending to pay for more defence equipment will end up costing the UK 10,000 jobs, according to an analysis of the government’s own figures.
The prime minister announced this week he was putting an extra £15bn into defence investment to revamp the country’s armed forces and boost British manufacturing. But the long-awaited defence investment plan (Dip) – designed to cement Starmer’s legacy in foreign policy and security as he prepares to depart Downing Street – raised immediate questions about where the funding would come from. Of the total, £6.8bn is being raised by unidentified cuts to departmental investment programmes and another £4.7bn is entirely unaccounted for.
“Infrastructure cuts to fund defence will cost UK 10,000 jobs, analysis shows”
The analysis, by researchers at the Transition Security Project, shows that while the extra defence investment will generate about 10,000 jobs by 2029-30, taking the money away from other sectors will cost nearly double that. The findings cast doubt on claims by Starmer and his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, that they are boosting British jobs by reallocating large chunks of government spending to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Khem Rogaly, the co-author of the report, said: “The idea that military spending can provide a defence dividend is misleading: job losses will result from this latest funding settlement while the opportunity cost of military spending is sharp. Far more jobs are created when investing in public needs like health, education and addressing the climate crisis. This latest data suggests that the turn towards autonomous weapons and AI could also mean that military spending creates even fewer jobs per pound than before.”
Andrea Egan, the general secretary of Unison, the country’s largest trade union, said: “This timely analysis highlights how making cuts to government departments to bankroll more military spending will result in job losses. This costly and wasteful plan means extra cash for war and overseas interventions, but less for schools and hospitals.”
A government spokesperson responded: “Defence is an engine for growth – supporting 272,000 jobs and over 25,000 MoD apprenticeships. The plan will back British workers, businesses and innovation, generate economic growth, create nearly 60,000 new jobs and increase defence e…”
Meanwhile, the SNP has warned that the government’s plans to cut around £2bn to fund defence infrastructure will not be announced until the autumn, putting energy jobs and national security at risk. The warning adds further pressure on Starmer and Reeves, who have yet to detail the full scope of the cuts needed to finance the defence spending increase.