David Reed MP, Shadow Defence Frontbencher, has responded to the publication of the Government's long-delayed Defence Investment Plan, released today, 30 June 2026.
After more than ten months of delays, the Government has finally published the Defence Investment Plan. While its publication is welcome, the substance falls well short of what is needed to equip and strengthen Britain's Armed Forces, at a time when threats are growing and demands on our forces are rising.
Defence chiefs say we need £28 billion more to keep Britain safe. The Government is providing £15 billion - barely half. And even that money doesn't fully exist yet: ministers have found £10.3 billion by raiding other departments but admit a further £4.7 billion still has to be found before the Plan can even be paid for.
On top of that, military chiefs will now be forced to find £10.7 billion of cuts elsewhere in existing programmes just to make the sums work.
This matters because Labour's own former Defence Secretary, John Healey, resigned just weeks ago over this exact level of spending. He said it could put the country at risk. Today's Plan keeps Britain at that same level - 2.68% of GDP - all the way to 2030, with no promise of ever reaching 3%. Defence Chiefs say 3% is the bare minimum needed to keep Britain safe, so the Government has turned that minimum into a target it won't even hit.
On top of this, hundreds of millions of pounds promised to fix military housing have been pushed back. Thousands of Forces families will be left in cold, mouldy, unsafe homes for years to come, with work not even starting until 2029.
Germany spends 3.7% of its national income on defence. Poland spends 4.48%. Britain is being left behind at a moment when the threats facing us have never been higher.
David Reed MP said:
"This Defence Investment Plan is too little, too late. Labour's former Defence Secretary, John Healey, resigned over this exact level of spending, warning it could make the country less safe. Today's Plan offers virtually the same numbers - and even those don't fully add up, with billions more left for his successor to find.
"This should have been the moment to set out a bold plan to strengthen Britain's defences. Instead, it leaves our Armed Forces underfunded and hollowed out, with no clear pathway to 3%, no full ten-year plan, and much of the promised investment pushed back beyond 2030. Putin will not wait for Britain to get its act together. A Government that claims to be putting the country on a war footing has, in reality, found just 0.26% of all public spending for defence. This is not a serious offer.
"It is also deeply disappointing that hundreds of millions of pounds promised for military housing have been pushed back, meaning work on thousands of unfit Forces homes won't even begin until 2029. I sat on the Armed Forces Bill Committee and was given direct assurances that this would not happen. Choosing to delay it, while the benefits bill keeps growing, says everything about this Government's real priorities.
"If we are serious about national security, we must back our Armed Forces with the resources they need, not simply the resources the Treasury is willing to spare."
