STORY
Ed Davey has criticised the Government over the continuing delay to the Defence Investment Plan, calling the situation “shambolic and dangerous”. The Liberal Democrat leader said ministers should publish the plan as the UK approaches a year since the Strategic Defence Review set out the scale of the country’s defence requirements.
The investment plan is intended to show how the Government will fund the military capabilities identified in the defence review, including equipment, technology and industrial capacity. Reports suggest Whitehall has not yet settled how the proposed uplift in defence spending will be financed.
The delay comes ahead of a NATO summit in Ankara in July, where allies are expected to press European countries to show more detailed defence spending commitments. Davey said the Government could not defend the country with unpublished reports, while ministers have insisted that the plan will be published once it is finalised.