Starmer pushes back on delayed defence spending plan
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UK defence spendingAdd to myFTGet instant alerts for this topicManage your delivery channels hereRemove from myFTKeir Starmer pushes back on delayed defence spending plan New national armaments director insists the paper is in its ‘final stages’The UK Ministry of Defence is seeking to deter Russia with an overhaul of the military © Sgt Donald C Todd/UK MoDKeir Starmer pushes back on delayed defence spending plan on x (opens in a new window)Keir Starmer pushes back on delayed defence spending plan on facebook (opens in a new window)Keir Starmer pushes back on delayed defence spending plan on linkedin (opens in a new window)Keir Starmer pushes back on delayed defence spending plan on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save Keir Starmer pushes back on delayed defence spending plan on x (opens in a new window)Keir Starmer pushes back on delayed defence spending plan on facebook (opens in a new window)Keir Starmer pushes back on delayed defence spending plan on linkedin (opens in a new window)Keir Starmer pushes back on delayed defence spending plan on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save David Sheppard and Sylvia PfeiferPublishedDecember 17 2025Jump to comments sectionPrint this pageUnlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has asked military chiefs to rework aspects of the defence investment plan that will map out the spending necessary for the biggest overhaul of the UK armed forces in a generation, with the paper now expected to be delayed until 2026.The Ministry of Defence is seeking to deter Russia with an overhaul of the military that was laid out in the strategic defence review this summer. But the defence investment plan, which was due to be delivered before Christmas, now looks unlikely to emerge before the new year. At a briefing to the prime minister in recent days, just days ahead of the planned delivery of the plan, Starmer raised concerns about “affordability”, according to three people briefed on the talks, and has asked for aspects of the plan to be reviewed.Defence chiefs have been angling for more spending but Starmer and chancellor Rachel Reeves face severe fiscal constraints.Defence secretary John Healey side-stepped questions from MPs on Monday about whether the plan would still be delivered before Christmas, saying only that his team was “working flat out until the end of this year”.Healey had previously said the defence investment plan would be “completed and published in the autumn” and in recent weeks MoD officials have briefed that a pre-Christmas deadline is intact.MoD officials said on Tuesday that the meeting with Starmer was a progress briefing rather than a full presentation designed to get final approval from the prime minister.A government spokesperson said it was “categorically untrue” that Starmer had declined to sign off on the plan, adding: “As the defence secretary said yesterday, we are working intensively to finalise work on the Defence Investment Plan.”But people close to the talks said Starmer was concerned about aspects of the plan, particularly around costs, and that there were tensions between No 10 and the MoD.National armaments director Rupert Pearce © House of CommonsRupert Pearce, the government’s new national armaments director, was only appointed in October to try and reform procurement of multibillion-pound projects for the MoD, leaving critics to ask if he has had enough time to help prepare such a critical paper.At an appearance before parliament’s influential defence select committee on Tuesday, Pearce was asked whether he would “concede the MoD had failed to deliver the defence investment plan”.“The government does not seem able to agree on the money involved, it cannot deliver the DIP on time — it means things are moving very slowly rather than moving at pace given the threats from adversaries,” said Tan Dhesi, the Labour MP who chairs the committee.Pearce, who was awarded one of the highest salaries in government for the new role, insisted the defence investment plan was in its “final stages” and that it was still close to being delivered.“We’re talking about days now, not weeks or months,” Pearce said.Officials at the MoD declined to confirm if the DIP could still be published ahead of the new year, with parliament heading into recess on December 18.People familiar with the matter said it was difficult to finalise the DIP while there were outstanding issues with some of the UK’s procurement projects, including the £6.3bn Ajax programme, a fleet of new armoured fighting vehicles beset by delays, cost overruns and hearing damage caused to some soldiers during trials, which could be scrapped.Starmer, who has said defence is a top priority for his government, is set to raise core defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP in 2027 from about 2.3 per cent when he entered office.He has pledged to increase defence spending further to 3 per cent of GDP in the next parliament and to 3.5 per cent by 2035 under the UK’s commitments to Nato, following pressure on European members from US President Donald Trump.But the strategic defence review is predicated on defence spending reaching at least 3 per cent, and industry and people in the armed forces have complained that they need greater certainty about exactly when defence spending will rise.Kevin Craven, chief executive of ADS, the industry trade lobby group, said the “delay in releasing the Defence Investment Plan that funds the strategy is frustrating, to say the least”.Reuse this content (opens in new window) CommentsJump to comments sectionPromoted Content Follow the topics in this article Aerospace & Defence Add to myFT UK defence spending Add to myFT Industrials Add to myFT Ministry of Defence UK Add to myFT Keir Starmer Add to myFT Comments