Starmer leaves Burnham with £5 billion black hole to fill

The outgoing Prime Minister has allocated £15bn in funding for defence - around half of the £28bn the Ministry of Defence had asked for.

Details of Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to bolster the country’s defences have been revealed - but top brass have warned the spending plans don't go far enough.

The outgoing Prime Minister has allocated £15bn in funding for defence - around half of the £28bn the Ministry of Defence had asked for.

But the country’s defences will still be bolstered across land, air and sea within billions flooding over the next few years under Starmer’s plan.

The defence investment plan (DIP) will include £5bn to increase the armed forces’ use of drones and autonomous weapons and also includes plans for a ‘hybrid navy’ with self-controlled vessels and AI alongside conventional warships.

The funding in the DIP also comes on top of the £270 billion promised for defence from 2025/26 to 2028/29.

However, military chiefs will also be forced to find £10.7bn in cuts, with the MoD set to slash funding for infrastructure, with “workforce and resourcing” and Civil Service reform needed.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the Treasury still needs to decide where £4.7bn of the £15bn of extra cash will found will come from and will announce this in the next budget.

Former defence secretary John Healey, who resigned earlier this month following a funding row over the DIP, said “more needs to be done in the months ahead” beyond the £15 billion investment.

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