STORY
Keir Starmer has used one of his final major policy interventions as Prime Minister to launch the Government’s long-delayed Defence Investment Plan, with Rachel Reeves confirming an additional £15 billion for defence. The announcement came ahead of the NATO summit and followed weeks of pressure over whether the Government was moving quickly enough to meet growing security threats.
The plan includes more than £5 billion for a major drone transformation across the Armed Forces, with investment in autonomous systems, uncrewed naval vessels, loitering munitions and new RAF capabilities. Ministers said the war in Ukraine and the recent Iran conflict had demonstrated how quickly warfare was changing, with drones reshaping the battlefield and requiring faster innovation cycles.
Opposition parties criticised the plan as late and underfunded, arguing that it still falls short of what defence chiefs had sought. The Government said the new investment would strengthen national security, support British jobs and help the UK move towards higher defence spending in the next Parliament.