Starmer is unveiling a reworked Defence Investment Plan today in his swan song as PM. The PM is up at 10.30 a.m. – watch live on these pixels…
£15 billion in extra funding over the next four years, up from an initial commitment of £13.5 billion. New Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis did not get any more substantial money from the Treasury. £1 billion of savings comes from delaying cadet expansion and upgrades to military housing. There is a one-off £2 billion increase in day-to-day funding this year, to cover operations and training…
There is still no date set for reaching 3% of GDP on defence, up from 2.4% currently. The government is now telling people to wait until the Spending Review…
Military chiefs say £18 billion is the lowest they could play with. At the current rate UK spending will be only 2.69% of GDP by 2030. Germany’s will be 3.7%, Sweden has pledged to reach 3.5%…
£5 billion of the DIP has been earmarked for integrating drones and autonomous systems. £4 billion of that was already earmarked in the Strategic Defence Review…
Six new “common combat vessels” warships have been announced, intended to replace Type 45 destroyers, but with no cost or build timeline given. Defence chiefs are hoping Andy Burnham will be more open to higher defence spending. Good luck with that, he will want to stay out of it…
Lord Khan in the Telegraph: “I hope, and I say this in a non-pompous way, that the public service I do will bring rewards in this world and the hereafter,” he says. “I’m hoping the work I do is earning me Brownie points.”