Military and Intelligence Chiefs Issue Urgent Call to Double Defence Spending
Senior military figures, former ministers, and intelligence chiefs have delivered a stark warning to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, demanding an immediate commitment to double Britain's defence spending. In a strongly-worded letter to Downing Street, they argue the nation faces a critical "1936 moment" reminiscent of the pre-World War Two era, requiring urgent rearmament to counter growing threats.
Britain 'Not War Ready' Against Modern Threats
The signatories, including former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, ex-National Security Advisor Lord Kim Darroch, and former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove, insist Britain remains dangerously unprepared for potential conflict with Russia. They point to concerning statistics showing the British Army at its smallest size since Napoleonic times, with Royal Air Force and Royal Navy fleets shrinking dramatically. Most alarmingly, simulations suggest the UK only possesses enough ammunition to sustain eight days of fighting against a peer adversary.
"Britain lacks the mass, readiness and resilience needed to produce a credible deterrent in an era of intensifying threats," the letter states. "We are deluding ourselves if we believe Russia and our other adversaries are unaware of this."
The Push for Five Percent GDP Commitment
Currently, Britain allocates just 2.4 percent of GDP to defence, equivalent to approximately £60 billion annually. The signatories demand this be increased to five percent, requiring either significant cuts to other government budgets, additional taxation, or further borrowing. They call for Sir Keir to announce a "bold, credible and measurable path" toward this target.
The letter highlights that Britain has not spent 3.5 percent of GDP on defence since 1994, with five percent last achieved in 1986. While the government has pledged to meet an updated NATO spending standard of five percent by 2035, only 3.5 percent represents core defence spending, with the remainder allocated to security infrastructure projects.
Multiple Security Threats Converge
The warning comes amid multiple converging security challenges. Russia's invasion of Ukraine approaches its fifth anniversary with no peace deal in sight, while the Kremlin actively threatens UK security through cyber attacks, surveillance of undersea cables, and drone activity around RAF and USAF bases. Simultaneously, jihadist groups are resurgent in Africa and the Middle East, and NATO faces internal destabilisation.
"You must recognise that we are facing our 1936 moment: global conflict is highly likely if we don't invest in deterrence now," the letter warns the Prime Minister. The reference to 1936 specifically recalls Nazi Germany's breach of the Versailles Treaty by marching into the demilitarised Rhineland, a precursor to wider conflict.
Budgetary Constraints and Government Response
The call for increased spending follows reports of a £28 billion black hole in military budgets over this parliament and repeated postponements of the Defence Investment Plan. This financial year alone, approximately £2 billion has been cut from the budget covering armed forces running costs.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly opposed to any major defence spending uplift despite the security threats. The letter notes that since taking office, the government has added unfunded costs to the Defence Department through above-average pay rises, the Chagos Islands deal, and extra National Insurance on the defence industry, resulting in "real-time reductions in available funds across the services."
A government spokesman responded: "The Prime Minister has made a historic commitment to spend 5 percent of GDP on defence and security from 2035. This is a generational increase and we are well on track to meet that target. We are delivering the largest sustained increase in defence since the Cold War."
Broad Coalition of Support
The letter has garnered support from a diverse coalition including former Defence Secretaries Sir Grant Shapps and Sir Michael Fallon, Falklands hero Simon Weston, military authors Tim Collins and Andy McNab, former Royal Navy commander Tom Sharpe, and former British defence attache in Afghanistan Colonel Simon Diggins. War Studies academic Professor Anthony King and former head of the Army Lord Dannatt also endorsed the message.
Public concern about defence has reportedly doubled, with polling suggesting it now ranks equally with the NHS and cost of living as a national priority. Even Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, lead author of the 2025 Strategic Defence Review, has argued for greater investment, stating that "if the government wants to accelerate then they will have to spend more money."
The letter concludes with a sobering assessment: "Britain's actions fall dangerously short of matching our rhetoric and our meeting of NATO treaty obligations. With defence spending at 2.4 percent and a longer-term NATO goal of 3.5 percent is simply not enough to rebuild mass, close funding gaps and get our Armed Forces into a state of readiness."
