Labour’s ‘dither and delay’ defence spending plan to be published ‘in weeks’ | UK | News
The Defense Investment Plan was scheduled to be published last autumn (Image: Getty)
A long-delayed plan detailing how the UK will fund its future defense A senior minister said the book would be published in “weeks” rather than months. Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden He said the document setting out defense investments over the next decade was “close” to publication.
In an interview with Sky News on Sunday (May 31), he said: “I think it will take weeks rather than months, but we want to get it right and do it properly.” The Defense Investment Plan (DIP) was originally planned to be published last fall but was repeatedly delayed.
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Pat McFadden says Government wants to get plan right (Image: Getty)
Some in Westminster had expected the plan to be published this week, exactly a year after the Strategic Defense Review, but Mr McFadden’s comments suggested this was unlikely.
The Secretary of State insisted that the delay in publishing the DIP did not prevent the Government from investing in defence. He said: “We’re not procrastinating, we’re doing it right and there is a difference.
“And the point I want to make to you is that it’s not like nothing is happening right now. We’re signing contracts for equipment and supplies all the time.
“Every day workers go to work at Barrow to build the next generation of nuclear submarines, and the same goes for other contracts and equipment needed for the nation’s defence.”
While ministers have been repeatedly criticized for the delay, House of Commons Defense Committee chairman Tan Dhesi said the UK’s military and defense industry needed to know where it stood and where it was heading.
Shadow Defense Secretary James Cartlidge said the UK “cannot afford any further delay”. He said: “The British people deserve a Government that recognizes the seriousness of the threats we face and supports our armed forces as necessary to keep our country safe.
“The Conservatives alone have laid out the tough choices we are prepared to make under new leadership, including diverting billions of dollars from welfare and net zero to defence.”
The Conservative Party has proposed an amendment that would require the plan to be published within a month of the Armed Forces Bill receiving royal assent.
While Labour’s Commons majority means it is almost guaranteed not to pass, the move will highlight the fact that a year has passed since the review was held on June 2 last year.
When it was published in June last year, Labour’s Strategic Defense Review promised to end the “drainage” of the country’s armed forces.
Reports indicate that officials are working towards a July 7 deadline ahead of the NATO summit in Türkiye by Prime Minister Sir Keir Strarmer and the US President. Donald Trump is expected to attend.
The government has pledged to increase defense spending to 2.7% of GDP from next year and to 5% by 2035 in response to an increasingly unstable geopolitical climate.
But reports also suggest there is a funding gap of around £28bn in current plans.
