Ex-Portsmouth MP Penny Mordaunt urges MoD to properly fund Royal Navy amid £28bn shortfall and “wake up” calls
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Calls to properly fund modernisation efforts for the armed forces have been made by a former defence secretary.
Ex-Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt insists that the UK needs back reforms for the Royal Navy and other forces as a priority. Doubts have been cast over future spending amid delays to the Defence Investment Plan (DIP), and reports of a £28bn shortfall over the next decade.
Ms Mordaunt told The News: “Our defence chiefs have given us four years to modernise our armed forces. This will be tough if funds don't start flowing until year five. Other nations are now making this a priority. We must too."
The Unite union issued a statement earlier this week urging the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to issue the DIP as soon as possible, after its initial publication date of autumn 2025 slipped by several months. General secretary Sharon Graham said this “inertia” was “an act of self-harm”, with job losses and manufacturing site closures a possibility.
Many major contracts have not been finalised, including an agreement for the SKYNET Enduring Capability (SKEC) Wideband Satellite System (WSS). Airbus Defence and Space UK currently construct the previous models of satellites in Anchorage Park, Portsmouth. The firm made a bid for the new agreement alongside competitors Lockheed Martin.
Evaluations of both proposals are ongoing. The DIP aims to set out financial priorities within the armed forces. Major reforms and modernisation efforts were laid out in the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), published in June 2025.
All 62 recommendations were accepted by the government. Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said at the time he was fully confident the measures were affordable. “I’m 100 per cent confident this can be delivered, because it was baked in from the very start of the review,” he added.
The government announced pledges to raise defence spending to 2.6 per cent of GDP by 2027, and to 3.5 per cent on core defence spending by 2035. Despite the pledges, Chief of Defence Staff Sir Richard Knighton cast doubt on if the reforms can be achieved.
Speaking to the defence select committee, he described the SDR as an “external document” and said the government could not afford the current commitment to programmes, and the modernisation efforts, under the current spending envelope. He added that the DIP is the detailed costing plan which will show timelines for when the SDR will be achieved, and what levels of spending are required.
Gosport MP Dame Caroline Dinenage, Conservative, said: “After their latest decision to hand £3.4bn to Mauritius for the privilege of continued use of the Chagos Islands, Labour have found they cannot make the money work for their Defence Investment Plan. Some sources claim that deal costs upwards of £30 billion.
“There's now a £28bn funding black hole for our forces, which the prime minister hasn't denied. That's obviously very worrying for companies in Gosport that rely on Government decisions. StandardAero at Fleetlands is waiting on a decision on the future of the Red Arrows which was supposed to be in the DIP.
“They simply cannot continue to put up with dither and delay from the MoD. Labour need to wake up to the reality of a more uncertain and dangerous world and commit to 3 per cent defence spending by the end of this parliament.”
Responding to the shortfall during PMQs, Sir Keir said the SDR is backed by “the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since The Cold War”, equating to £270bn this parliament. “Ben Wallace, the longest serving Conservative defence secretary, openly admitted that under their watch, the armed forces were hollowed out,” he added.
Portsmouth Labour MPs, Stephen Morgan and Amanda Martin, declined to comment directly. An MoD spokesperson said more than 1,000 major defence contracts have already been signed since the last general election, with 2025 being the best year for defence exports since records began. They added that the government has secured over £20bn worth of defence deals in a year, supporting jobs and companies across the UK.
“The Defence Investment Plan will set out how the department will allocate spending over the next 10 years, ensuring that resources are directed effectively to meet our priorities,” they added. “It is vital that these decisions are carefully considered so that the department gets these decisions right. We are working hard to finalise the plan, and it will be published at the earliest opportunity once it is ready.”