Labour is undermining Britain in front of both allies and adversaries with its failure to release plans for a major defence spending boost, MPs were told today. Industry figures and academics hit out at the hold-up in releasing the Defence Investment Plan (DIP), which was originally slated for publication last autumn but has yet to appear.
Defence Spending Targets
The document is to set out how the UK will increase its defence spending from around 2.6 per cent of GDP to 3 per cent by the end of the decade and 5 per cent by 2035. However, a major row between the Ministry of Defence and the Treasury means its release has been repeatedly postponed, with reports suggesting there is a funding gap of around £28 billion in the existing plans.
Impact on Deterrence
Lucia Retter, of the Rand Europe think tank, told the Treasury Committee today that there was a major gap in UK fighting abilities in some areas including a shortage of munitions and drone technology while the impasse went on. 'Ultimately, at the strategic level, the gap means that our deterrence posture is more brittle than we would like it to be, our messaging and signalling to both our allies and adversaries is also undermined,' she added.
Andrew Kinniburgh, director general of the Make UK trade body, warned that investment was being throttled without a decision, saying: 'Without the DIP in place we are stuck on 2.6 per cent of GDP, which is, we would argue, wholly unacceptable and not enough to give us a credible defence deterrent.' He added: 'There is definitely a gap and we need to see the plan from 2.6 to 3 per cent and then from 3 per cent to 3.5 per cent.'
Strategic Defence Review
Labour’s Strategic Defence Review was published in June last year and promised an end to the 'hollowing out' of the UK’s armed forces. But the investment plan to follow has still not been released. On Monday Defence Secretary John Healey told MPs that the Prime Minister was hoping to launch the delayed policy details before a Nato event in Ankara, Turkey, which begins on July 7. Some in Westminster had expected the plan to be published this week, exactly a year on from the strategic defence review that called for a DIP.
Criticism and Funding
Ministers have been repeatedly criticised over the delay, with Commons Defence Committee chairman Tan Dhesi saying Britain's military and defence industry 'need to know where we stand and where we are going'. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she won't raise taxes to find the cash, but has also distanced herself from a suggestion by Lord Robertson, the former Nato leader and Labour defence secretary, to take money from welfare spending.
