Britain's armed forces will have to reduce training and operations if they do not receive additional funding, the Chief of the Defence Staff has warned. Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton told peers he was concerned about funding for day-to-day activity in the context of rising inflation.
Funding Pressures
Appearing before the Lords International Relations and Defence Committee, Sir Richard said rising costs had put pressure on training and operations, pointing to an 88% increase in aviation fuel costs over the past year. He stated: We will have to dial back our activities and our exercise and operational activity if the level of resource funding that is available to us does not increase.
Sir Richard added that the armed forces would prioritise changes around what the Government cared about most, but noted it would be disingenuous to suggest there would be no impact.
Political Context
His comments come amid a row over defence spending that saw Defence Secretary John Healey and Armed Forces Minister Al Carns resign last week over funding for the Defence Investment Plan (Dip). Mr Healey criticised a Treasury proposal that he said would increase defence spending to 2.68% of GDP in 2030. With spending set to hit 2.6% of GDP next year, the former defence secretary said the proposal fell well short of the funding required for the long-delayed Dip, which sets out spending on new military equipment and infrastructure over the next decade.
Mr Healey is expected to make a resignation statement to the Commons on Tuesday afternoon.
Prime Minister's Response
Speaking to reporters at the G7 summit in Evian, France, on Tuesday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended his record, saying his Government was increasing the defence budget from 2.3% of GDP to 2.6%. He added that the Dip would give the UK capability for the future and that he had already reallocated money from other departments to defence. Sir Keir said: Obviously the new Defence Secretary is reading in and we are talking to him about how and what we will spend that money on, in terms of capability, and he has got his own thoughts now on what the priorities should be, and so that is the discussion we are in the middle of at the moment.
