UK ‘badly exposed’ and needs 10 years to rebuild its defence, former military chief warns Sir Keir Starmer
The former head of the armed forces has issued a stark warning to Sir Keir Starmer, claiming Britain needs a decade to rebuild its defenses even if the prime minister “shows the leadership” to restart investment now.
In a dire assessment of the state of the UK military, Lord Jock Stirrup, who was chief of the defense staff during the premierships of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, warned that the UK was “badly exposed” and needed a “complete change of mindset” to put it on a war footing.
The former air chief said he fully agreed with Labour’s Lord Robertson’s damning assessment that UK security was “at risk” and Sir Keir’s government’s failures to deal with the crisis.
Lord Stirrup worked closely with Lord Robertson when he was first defense secretary and then NATO secretary general.
The crisis comes as the prime minister faces increasing criticism over delays in key defence-related decisions. While the Treasury and the Department of Defense clash over priorities, the long-awaited defense investment plan remains on the table.
To talk IndependentLord Stirrup said: “We are in a bad place as a country.”
He continued: “We need to replenish the warehouses, ammunition and all kinds of war consumables, which are already very small and, of course, significantly reduced due to the number we rightfully gave to Ukraine.
“But secondly, we need an agile, innovative and rapidly scalable defense base, a defense industrial base, in this country and across Western Europe. By defense industrial base, I don’t just mean traditional defense companies.”
He cautioned that there is no quick fix. He said the situation was so dire that the UK needed a “gradual” increase in defense spending to rebuild defense production or simply risk inflation in the sector.
He said: “We still have a long way to go. We need 10 years of sustainable investment in defense to re-establish our position.”
He issued a stern warning: “A 10-year period does not mean, as the government often thinks, that you can leave everything to year eight, nine or 10.”
But the man who oversaw the UK’s intervention in both Afghanistan and Iraq expressed disappointment at the lack of leadership from Sir Keir’s government.
Taking a different precedent now, Lord Stirrup said: “I see no sign at the moment of the determination and leadership required in government to do this because of course it requires extremely difficult choices.
Commenting on Lord Robertson’s warning that welfare spending should be shifted to defence, he added: “We all understand the pressures on the finances. We all understand the pressures on the economy, particularly from the rapidly expanding welfare bill, which is a completely different matter in itself.”
“But we expect our leaders to lead, and that means making tough decisions in tough times. We didn’t force these people to run the country. That’s what they wanted to do.”
The intervention comes as it was revealed that the Rachel Reeves Treasury had vetoed spending on a deal for UK peacekeepers to go to Ukraine, apart from blocking Ministry of Defense spending and forcing cuts later in the year.
Last week former Tory defense ministers Penny Mordaunt, Sir Ben Wallace, Sir Grant Shapps and former Labor foreign secretary Jack Straw warned about the dire state of UK defence.
Lord Stirrup also contributed to a fascinating report for Policy Exchange earlier this year; here he warned that the UK could no longer rely on its nuclear deterrent for defense without being supported by other military hardware.
Sir Keir insisted he had made record investment in UK defence, but Lord Stirrup said: “It is easier to make record increases when defense spending is at record lows.”
During Wednesday’s PMQs, Sir Keir said he disagreed with Lord Robertson after the former NATO chief accused the government of “corrosive complacency” on defense spending.
Sir Keir said: “Last February, seven months after taking office, I took the decision to increase defense spending from 2.3 per cent to 2.6 per cent and this was due to my difficult decision on overseas aid.
“At the NATO summit last June, I committed to increasing core defense spending to 3.5 percent. Last November, the budget committed to allocate record funding for defense. I now reaffirm these commitments.
“The strategic defense review is a 10-year plan of national security. The defense investment plan (Dip) will put this into effect. It will be published as soon as possible.”
During her clash with the Prime Minister, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch pressed the Prime Minister on when Dip would be published, calling for it to be published before the end of the parliamentary session.
He said: “Lord Robertson’s criticisms were directed at the prime minister and say Britain’s national security is at risk.
“Our armed forces now expect this government to fund the strategic defense review (SDR).
“There are still two weeks left of the parliamentary session, so why doesn’t the Prime Minister publish the Dip before then?”
Sir Keir did not respond directly to this, instead saying the government “has spent £270bn on this Parliament, that’s £5bn more this year, with defense funding increasing every year.”
