Starmer warned UK faces ‘1936 moment’ as ex-defence chiefs urge spending boost
Britain’s armed forces are “depleted by years of chronic underfunding”, former defense leaders have warned.
The open letter to the Prime Minister, signed by three former defense ministers, retired senior military chief and former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove, says Britain faces a “1936 moment” with rising tensions and global conflict likely amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The letter was published TelegramIt calls for defense spending to reach 5 percent of GDP.
This contrasts with Sir Keir Starmer’s promise to raise the rate to 2.5 per cent next year and 3 per cent after the next election.
“Our actions fall dangerously short of living up to this rhetoric and fulfilling our treaty obligations,” the letter says.
“We are fooling ourselves if we believe that Russia and our other enemies are not aware of this.”
The government is yet to publish its delayed Defense Investment Plan (Dip), which sets out how it will deliver on its commitments.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman stressed on Monday that the Ministry of Defense (MoD) was “constantly” working to implement the plan “as quickly as possible”.
The open letter encouraged Sir Keir to “commit to a bold, credible and measurable path to spend 5 per cent of GDP on essential defence, providing the certainty our Armed Forces, industry and long-standing allies need to deter aggression and secure Britain’s future.”
“You must understand that we are facing our 1936 moment: If we do not invest in deterrence now, the likelihood of global conflict is quite high.”
In January, Downing Street refused to deny reports that the Ministry of Defense was facing a deficit of up to £28bn amid claims that a black hole in the budget had prompted Sir Keir Starmer to order an overhaul of its investment plan.
“Recent reports highlight your Government’s denial of a stark reality: the Ministry of Defense will face a £28bn deficit in the coming years just to get the British Armed Forces ‘battle ready’,” the letter read.
“This gap, equivalent to almost half the MoD’s annual budget, threatens to leave our forces under-equipped and overstretched at a time when preparedness, already a weakness, is crucial.”
Signatories to the letter include former defense ministers Sir Ben Wallace, Sir Grant Shapps and Sir Michael Fallon, as well as former chief of staff General Richard Dannatt and former First Sea Lord Admiral Lord West.
The letter also accused the government of imposing “new unfunded costs” on the Department of Defense, citing the Chagos Islands agreement, salary increases and possible compensation for the Afghan data leak.
In June 2025, Sir Keir promised that NATO would meet its target of spending 5 per cent of GDP on national security by 2035.
This included spending 3.5 percent on “basic defense” and 1.5 percent on “resilience and security.”
On Monday, the BBC reported that the prime minister was considering pushing back the 3 percent target to 2029.
Asked about the reports at an event in London earlier in the week, Sir Keir did not confirm he was considering bringing forward the target but said Europe needed to “step up on defense and security”.
He said: “We face the threat of aggression from Russia. In a few days it is the fourth anniversary of the start of the conflict in Ukraine.
“We want a just and lasting peace, but that will not eliminate the Russian threat, and we need to be alert to that because it will affect every single person in this room, every single person in this country, so we must step up.
“This means we need to go faster on defense spending.”
A government spokesman said the prime minister’s NATO commitment was to “deliver a generational increase in defense and security spending” and that we were well on track to achieve that target.
They said: “As defense demands grow, we are delivering the biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the Cold War, with an additional £5bn in this financial year alone and an additional £270bn across this Parliament, ensuring there will be no return to the hollowed-out armed forces of the past.
“We make no apologies for delivering the biggest pay rise for our hard-working staff in decades and for implementing a £9bn housing strategy to refurbish tens of thousands of military homes after years of neglect.”
