Andrew Salmon

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Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves will today be accused of “corrosive complacency” on defence, in a damning intervention by the lead author of their own defence review. Lord George Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary and former head of the NATO alliance, will use a speech - first reported by @LOS_Fisher @FT - to reveal his deep frustration at a failure by the government to rebuild the “underprepared” military at pace in the face of escalating threats and instability. He will take particular aim at the chancellor, her apparent lack of interest in defence and the incompatibility of vast welfare spending with supercharging the defence budget. Lord Robertson will accuse “non-military experts in the Treasury” of “vandalism”, adding: “We cannot defend Britain with an ever-expanding welfare budget”. The public rebuke by a key ally and adviser of the government echoes a sense of growing dismay among defence insiders at the lack decisive political leadership when it comes to fixing the UK’s hollowed out armed forces and rebuilding wider national resilience. Sir Keir has yet even to publish a major, 10-year plan for new investment in the Royal Navy, army and Royal Air Force, which means defence companies are sitting idle, with employees even worrying about job security, instead of cranking up production and ensuring the UK is returning to a war-footing – something the prime minister has said is necessary. The Defence Investment Plan (DIP) should have been released last autumn in the wake of Lord Robertson’s Strategic Defence Review, which set out of the parlous state of the armed forces following decades of underinvestment and the plan for recovery. The hold up is because the Ministry of Defence needs tens of billions of pounds in new funding from the Treasury over the coming four years much faster than currently envisaged – but there is a deadlock over how that can be achieved. John Healey, the defence secretary, on Friday was unable to confirm to Sky News that the investment plan would be made public before MPs break up for the summer. In his speech in Salisbury, Lord Robertson will say: “We are underprepared. We are underinsured. We are under attack. We are not safe . . . Britain’s national security and safety is in peril.” He will also warn: “There is a corrosive complacency today in Britain’s political leadership. Lip service is paid to the risks, the threats, the bright red signals of danger — but even a promised national conversation about defence can’t be started.” Excerpts of the speech were first reported by the Financial Times. The Labour grandee will say that Donald Trump’s war in Iran “has to be a rude wake up call”. He will point to an inability by the navy even to deploy a single large warship at pace to defend British interests in the easter Mediterranean as a sign of just how hollow the armed forces have become. Ms Reeves will be called out over her apparent neglect of what should be the top priority of any government, Lord Robertson will pointedly say that she used “a mere 40 words on defence in over an hour” in her Budget speech last year, while last month “in the Spring Statement she used none”. Sir Keir has promised to increase spending on defence to 3% of GDP up from just over 2% - but not until the next parliament. A government spokesperson said: “We are delivering on the Strategic Defence Review to meet the threats we face. “It is backed by the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War, with a total of over £270 billion being invested across this Parliament. “We are finalising our Defence Investment Plan that we will publish as soon as possible, putting the best kit and technology into the hands of our forces, rebuilding British industry to make defence an engine for growth and doubling down on our own commitment to NATO."