Former Nato chief aims broadside at Government over defence funding

The UK is underprepared for war due to the “ever-expanding welfare budget” and “corrosive complacency” from Sir Keir Starmer’s government, former Nato chief Lord George Robertson has warned.

The former Labour defence secretary, who led the Government’s Strategic Defence Review (SDW), accused ministers of being unwilling to make the necessary investment.

He will use a lecture on Tuesday evening to say the Iran war must be a “rude wake-up call” to ministers to act.

In the speech, he 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.”

The 10-year defence investment plan which was meant to be published in autumn last year to deliver the SDR’s plans has still not been produced.

Lord Robertson told the Financial Times there was a gap between the Prime Minister’s rhetoric on defence and the action he had delivered, saying Sir Keir was “not willing to make the necessary investment”.

He will accuse “non-military experts in the Treasury” of “vandalism”, according to extracts of his speech published by the newspaper.

He will say: “We cannot defend Britain with an ever-expanding welfare budget.”

Lord Robertson will warn of 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.”

Referring to Donald Trump’s criticism of Nato, the former secretary general of the alliance will say: “Recent days have shown that the role and priorities of the United States have shifted, and will never be the same again.”

The Government has committed to spend 2.5% of gross domestic product on defence by 2027, increasing to 3% in the next parliament and a Nato-agreed target of 3.5% by 2035.

Sir Keir told MPs on Monday that the Government is working to finalise the defence investment plan but he did not want to repeat the mistakes of previous administrations because “we inherited plans that were unfunded and not deliverable”.

The Financial Times reported that there is a funding gap of around £28 billion in the existing plans, and the Ministry of Defence, Treasury and Downing Street are deadlocked over how to proceed with the new 10-year plan.

A Government spokesman 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.”

The head of the Royal Navy, First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, told MPs: “The only thing I can say from the inside is this could not be taken more seriously at the moment.

“I see no sign of complacency amongst anybody that I work with or provide advice to.”

Downing Street rejected Lord Robertson’s claim that national security was in peril.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I completely reject that. Our armed forces are working around the world every minute of the day to keep us safe at home and strong abroad.”

The spokesman pointed to the role played by Typhoon and F-35 jets and Wildcat helicopters in the Middle East and the work in responding to increased Russian activity in the Atlantic.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch backed Lord Robertson’s comments, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: “We used to spend one in every seven pounds on welfare. Now it’s one in every three pounds and a lot of that money has basically been swapped for defence.

“The world is not as peaceful as it used to be. The peace dividend that existed after the fall of the Berlin Wall is gone, we need to spend more money on defence.”

She later insisted to the Press Association during a visit to south London that the pensions triple lock did not need to be re-examined as another means of cutting benefit spending in favour of defence investment.

Mrs Badenoch told PA: “Moving around money from the triple lock does not create growth. Getting people off welfare into work creates growth, and it’s a double whammy, because those people don’t need to be paid benefits, but they’re also contributing taxes to the exchequer.

“So our priority is to get Britain working again, to bring down the welfare bill, to create economic growth.”