Sir Keir Starmer hailed the long-delayed plan for defence spending as a game-changing move that will keep the UK “safe and secure long into the future” as he announced it will be published on Tuesday.
The defence investment plan (Dip), originally due last year, had been held back amid wrangling within Government over the amount of money required to finance the military.
Former defence secretary John Healey quit in protest over it, as he did not believe the Dip provided enough funding for the UK to transform its armed forces and meet future threats.
He also warned that the plan would likely fall short of Britain’s commitments to the Nato alliance, which has tasked all member states with hiking core defence spending to 3.5% of national economic output by 2035.
Under the stewardship of new Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis, the Dip will now focus on ramping up the UK’s use of drones and autonomous weapons, funded by a £5 billion investment, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced.
He is understood to have secured some extra money for the plan, taking the full settlement to some £14.5 billion – up from the £13.5 billion offered to Mr Healey but short of the £28 billion officials previously said was needed.
In a major speech at a defence firm on Tuesday, Sir Keir will set out how the Dip will accelerate Britain’s drone capabilities, as wars in both Ukraine and Iran have seen widespread use of the warfighting robots.
Speaking ahead of the Dip’s launch, the Prime Minister said: “This game-changing investment will strengthen our armed forces on land, at sea and in the air, ensuring our servicemen and women have the cutting-edge capabilities they need to deter evolving threats and keep the British people safe.
“At the same time, we are backing British innovation, British industry and British jobs and delivering opportunity to every corner of the country.
“Today’s defence investment plan will help drive growth across the UK, giving our industrial base the confidence, certainty and support it needs to develop and scale the technologies that will keep our country safe and secure long into the future.”
Mr Jarvis, the new defence secretary, has spent his two weeks in the job “refocusing” the Dip, Downing Street said, so that it will get the “latest kit” into the hands of the armed forces.
The Defence Secretary said: “Our armed forces are serving at an increasingly dangerous and unpredictable time. We are determined to give them what they need as they serve with courage and exceptional skill to keep us safe.
“The character of warfare is rapidly changing. In Ukraine and the Middle East, uncrewed systems are defining conflicts.
“This largest ever UK investment into these evolving technologies will help our armed forces stay ahead of our adversaries, backed by the best of our defence industry. We are giving our extraordinary people the equipment they need to fight and win.”
Britain has been closely watching the use of drones in the theatre of war in Ukraine, where some 200,000 are now used each month to defend against Russian forces, and in Iran, where around 700 drones were launched each day at the height of its war with the US and Israel.
In a signal of the pivot towards drone warfare, the MoD has already announced that a fleet of new destroyer warships will no longer appear in the Dip, and will instead be replaced by “hybrid” vessels, which will act as command hubs for drones.
The Dip has become widely regarded as a legacy issue for Sir Keir, something he can achieve before he stands down as Prime Minister and makes way for his likely successor, Andy Burnham.
Mr Burnham’s camp has left open the possibility that it could revisit the Dip, should he either win a contest or be anointed as Labour leader and the next prime minister.
On Monday, in a speech laying out his economic prospectus for governing the country, the leadership challenger suggested he wanted to see British-based defence companies favoured in future military contracts.
Speaking in Manchester, he said: “From here on, every pound raised from taxpayers will work harder for them, and that approach will apply fully to the defence investment plan.
“We will make sure that all eligible public contracts are subject to proper social value weighting and we will do that to make sure British-based companies are in a better position to win those contracts.”
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said the plan was “too little, too late”, adding: “Too little because it is barely more money than John Healey and Al Carns resigned over when they said Britain would be ‘less safe’. And too late because the plan is now almost a year overdue and only being rushed through because Keir Starmer is desperate for a legacy.
“This plan is not worth the paper it’s written on – Keir Starmer is Prime Minister in name only. The next prime minister needs to cut welfare and give our armed forces the funding they need to keep Britain safe. The problem is, it doesn’t matter who is in charge, all Labour MPs want is more benefits. Labour are now the welfare party.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, meanwhile, said the plan was “late and underfunded”, something he described as “unforgivable”.
He added: “It is a political choice that makes us all less safe, puts jobs at risk and threatens businesses across the country in supply chains. The Government have dangerously short-changed our armed forces when they need urgent investment after years of Conservative negligence. Defence chiefs have been forced to make hard choices when they should be given what they need.”
Donald Trump expects the UK and other Nato allies to stick to their defence spending pledges, the White House said on Monday.
At a crucial Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey next week, members of the defence alliance are expected to set out a “credible path” to spending 5% of economic output on defence by 2035 – 3.5% on core defence spending and a further 1.5% for wider resilience spending.
