Plans to put UK industries on war footing ‘delayed until next year’ despite Iran conflict
Plans to ensure the UK’s industries and critical infrastructure are prepared for war will reportedly be delayed until next year, raising growing questions about the UK’s ability to defend itself in an increasingly unstable global environment.
The Defense Preparedness Bill, which ministers said would be introduced this year, is no longer expected to feature in the government’s future legislative plans.
The bill, recommended by the strategic defense review, would enable key industries to prepare their workers in case they are called to war.
This comes despite growing instability amid the ongoing war in Iran and repeated threats from Donald Trump to withdraw from NATO.
Defense minister Lord Coaker said last year the bill would be introduced in early 2026. But sources now say: Times The law is not expected to be included in the King’s speech in May, which sets the agenda of the next session of Parliament.
Tan Dhesi, Labor chairman of the House of Commons Defense Select Committee, told the paper there were parallels with the defense investment plan, a long-delayed plan that will set out how the armed forces will order new equipment for warfare.
The senior Labor MP said repeated delays risked “sending damaging signals to enemies and allies”.
He added: “In this age of geopolitical tension and conflict, the Department of Defense needs to start moving much, much faster.”
Britain has pledged to increase defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2027 in a bid to close gaps in Britain’s struggling military. He also promised to increase spending to three per cent in the next Parliament “when financial and economic conditions permit”.
But amid growing instability in the Middle East, ongoing conflict in Ukraine and questions about the durability of the NATO alliance, calls are growing for the UK to move more quickly to strengthen its defences.
It comes after a former senior military commander warned last week that the British army was so exhausted it could only “capture a small market town on a good day”.
General Sir Richard Barrons, one of the authors of the strategic defense review, issued a scathing assessment of the military, warning that none of the services could do “anything significant”.
He told the BBC: “The armed forces that we have at the moment, because of their size and also their complexity, can only make a very small contribution on land, in the air and at sea to an organization led by the US or, more likely, by a NATO initiative. What it cannot do is anything significant.”
Last week, US President Donald Trump warned Sir Keir Starmer and other allies that “the US will not be there to help you, just like you are not there for us” after they refused to join US attacks on Iran.
The US President told Britain and other countries not involved in the initial attacks on Iran to “buy their own oil” and told them they should try to reopen the Strait of Hormuz themselves.
He also directly attacked Sir Keir’s government for “refusing to get involved in the decapitation of Iran”, telling it to “start learning how to fight for yourself”.
And in an interview TelegramThe US president said he was strongly considering withdrawing the US from NATO, describing the alliance as a “paper tiger”.
A government spokesman said: “National security is our first duty and we have the resources we need to protect the UK from attack, whether from home or abroad.
“We are continually toughening and sharpening our approach to homeland security, underpinned by the biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War, ensuring the UK has a good response to the threats we face. We do not comment on speculation surrounding the Kings’ Speech.”
