"Working flat out", "Surely he knows": Accusations fly amid Royal Navy and defence investment plan delays

John Healey, Labour, declined to give a specific date for when the defence investment plan would be published. The documents are projected to outline how critical defence reforms unveiled in the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) would be costed, and how the UK would meet spending targets.

Liberal Democrat MP Ian Roome said politicians were told they would be able to see the defence investment plan before the Christmas recess, and pressured the defence secretary to answer when this will be published.

Mr Healey told the House of Commons: “We’re working flat out between now and the end of the year to finalise the defence investment plan. He will appreciate the scale of the decisions we need to make, the problems we’re facing, and a programme from the last government which was overcommitted, underfunded, and unsuited to meet the threats in the future.”

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge, Conservative, was left baffled by the response and pushed Mr Healey further. “It’s a very simple question,” he added, “Will the defence investment plan be published before the rise of the house on Thursday, yes or no?”

Keeping his cards close to his chest, Mr Healey responded: “The answer is simple. We’re working flat out between now and the end of the year to finalise the defence investment plan. He of all people, having been responsible for deep problems and programmes beset with failures such as Ajax, he will appreciate the scale of challenge we face.”

Bemused, Mr Cartlidge said: “Is the secretary of state seriously sitting there saying he doesn’t now his diary for the rest of the week? He can ask one of the ministers or officials. Surely he knows whether later this week he'll be standing up to give the most important defence statement of the year.

“In June, he promised that the defence investment plan would be ‘completed and published in the Autumn’. It’s already late, just like the SDR, defence industrial strategy, and defence housing strategy. Doesn’t this illustrate perfectly why the defence select committee said when it comes to war readiness, Labour are moving at a glacial pace.”

Mr Healey proceeded to challenge the previous Conservative government’s record on defence. He said: “The house will know not to take any lessons from the honourable gentleman. His munitions strategy when he was in government was often promised and never published. His drone strategy had more pictures than pages and no funding. His government’s defence funding was published as an election gimmick weeks before the election, and in 14 years, was never delivered.”

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The government has committed to spending 2.6 per cent of GDP on defence by 2027, and an ambition of reaching three per cent by the next parliament. They have also pledged to meet Nato’s 2035 spending targets of 3.5 per cent on core defence by 2035. Despite the promises, the lack of details on how the government will reach these targets - given the current economic climate - has cast doubt on if and how they will be achieved.

High-ranking military officials have reportedly held fraught meetings on if the reforms in the SDR can be achieved given the level of funding. Stuart Anderson, Conservative MP for South Shropshire, said in parliament: “The world is rearming at a rapid pace. It’s fair to say the UK is starting to fall behind some of our Nato allies. Does the secretary of state believe the current funding from 2027, 2030 and 2035 meet the current needs to prepare us for war should the need be there?”

Mr Healey said he’s confident in the financial support and the SDR allows the government to map out a way of making the armed forces more prepared to deter threats. He added: “The commitment in our first year to increase defence spending by the largest sustained amount since the Cold War is a historic move.”