Wes Streeting Accused Of 'Ignoring' Critics Over Delays To Defence Spending Hike

Wes Streeting has been accused of “ignoring” widespread criticisms about the delays to the expected hike in defence spending. Chancellor John Healey used his Budget on Wednesday to confirm that he had plugged a £4.7 billion black hole in the defence investment plan. But – even after quitting Keir Starmer’s cabinet over a lack of defence investment – the chancellor has still not yet outlined a clear path to spending 3% of GDP (gross domestic product) on the armed forces by 2030.

The government has insisted it will explain where that money comes from in the spending review next summer. But Labour MP Tan Dhesi , the chair of the defence committee, claimed on Wednesday that major decisions have clearly been “lamentably delayed” and that the government risks leaving the UK “seriously vulnerable” as a result. Streeting said he “strongly disagrees” with Dhesi when asked for his response to the criticism. “I don’t think the charge he makes on delaying, kicking the can down the road, stacks up against the extra money that is already going into defence and the capability we’re funding right now,” the cabinet minister told the BBC.

He said Mark Rutte, secretary general of Nato, had praised Britain for being on a “credible path” to meeting its spending commitments after the Budget. “I think we’re doing as much as we can, as fast as we can,” Streeting added. “Of course there is more to do and it’s right those big decisions are set out at a comprehensive spending review next year.” BBC Breakfast presenter Charlie Stayt replied: “Maybe this is inevitable, but those people who have criticised what they see as inaction, or action being paused, you reject in their entirety.”

He pointed to the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), Helen Miller, who said the chancellor has “largely kicked the tough decisions on defence down the road”. Stayt said: “Do we ignore those comments too? Is that the way this works? These people to be ignored, but what you say is what everyone has to acknowledge as the truth?” But Streeting hit back that the Institute for Fiscal Studies would be “the first people to complain if the chancellor had set out at a Budget spending plans that do not stack up because they weren’t done at a comprehensive spending review”.

He said he would take such criticism on the chin “if we weren’t already right now spending, in this year and next year”. He said defence spending was at 2.3% of GDP when they were elected in 2024 and in 2027 it will be 2.7%. He said the threat to the UK is “serious” and a graver threat “than any we’ve faced since the end of the Cold War”. He claimed the Labour government has been behind the largest investment in defence since the end of the Soviet Union.

He said it was right to wait for the spending review “I would agree with that criticism if we hadn’t been investing right now, if we weren’t investing already.” Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.