LABOUR’S UK defence investment fund is around £14billion short of what Forces chiefs insist they need to keep the nation safe.
New Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis lost the battle with Chancellor Rachel Reeves over the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP), which was hoped to plug a £28billion black hole in the Ministry of Defence’s accounts.
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New Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis lost the battle with Chancellor Rachel Reeves over the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP) Credit: Getty
Mr Jarvis managed to secure an extra £1billion for the MoD but Ms Reeves refused to make major cuts elsewhere to properly fund defence Credit: Getty
Yesterday Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced £5billion for drones over four years as part of the expected £14.5billion settlement.
But most of that money was announced last year, with defence insiders admitting: “Only £1billion is new money.”
And a defence source slammed Mr Starmer’s announcement, saying that the £5billion injection was less than two per cent of the MoD’s budget over the next four years.
They said: “This is hardly a revolution. It is utter f*****g waffle. We are still not learning the lessons from Ukraine.”
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It is understood Mr Jarvis, who was a major in the Parachute Regiment, managed to secure an extra £1billion for the MoD but Ms Reeves refused to make major cuts elsewhere to properly fund defence.
It comes amid warnings that Britain has become a laughing stock among Nato allies over its failure to meet defence promises.
The Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Richard Knighton warned this month that training and missions will have to be cut.
And Defence Secretary John Healey and Armed Forces Minister Al Carns both quit this month in protest at constraints in the investment fund.
Sir Keir had originally offered the MoD an extra £13.5billion over the next four years.
But MoD insiders said the figure was only £10billion of new money once “Treasury trickery” had been taken into account.
Yesterday the PM insisted the £5billion for drones was a “game-changing investment”.
He said: “It will strengthen our Armed Forces on land, at sea and in the air, ensuring our servicemen and women have the cutting-edge capabilities they need to deter evolving threats and keep British people safe.”
The MoD said drones would range from “highly complex autonomous mine-hunting drones to small quadcopter tactical drones, and low-cost kamikaze one-way attack drones”.
