Keir Starmer’s legacy on defense leaves Andy Burnham with an unenviable task: finding billions of pounds from elsewhere.
Esther Webber, Mason Boycott-Owen
Andrew Kinniburgh, director-general of Make UK Defence, said: “As many other European allies rapidly accelerate towards meeting our new NATO target several years early, the U.K. is on the go-slow.”
Partial relief
The arrival of the DIP will allow defense companies and service personnel to breathe a sigh of relief. While arguments continue over the level of funding, many will be pleased that it provides some certainty and allows people to make commercial and strategic decisions after spending the last ten months in limbo.
Kevin Craven, CEO of ADS, which represents more than 2,000 firms in the sector, said: “The clarity provided will support the U.K.’s defense industry to do what we do best: supply equipment, capabilities and services that ensure the UK’s national security.”
Yet there was widespread acceptance even at the plan’s launch that the price tag is only part of the picture. Answering questions at the headquarters of a drone manufacturer in Berkshire, Starmer described the DIP as a “massive step forward” while effectively admitting he had no road map for hitting 3 percent of GDP on spending, specifying that it “must be the number one priority at the next spending review.”
Healey, who quit in protest partly at the refusal to set out a roadmap towards the U.K.’s spending pledges, said: “We need a target date for 3 percent and a clear credible funding plan to meet our NATO commitment for 3.5 percent on defence by 2035,” because “European security is at stake.”
One Labour MP with a close interest in defense, who, like others in this story, was granted anonymity to speak candidly, said that the strategy “takes us forward” — but added “there is a lot more that needs to happen” which they said would now fall to Burnham when he assumes power.
