Kemi Badenoch - In case you missed it, Keir Starmer flew to the Middle East on Tuesday with a plan to discuss ways to “uphold the ceasefire” between the US, Israel and Iran.
We all want to see an end to the conflict in Iran but, as with so much of what Starmer says, the reality will fall far short of what the PM promises.
The truth is that any part Britain might play in “upholding the ceasefire” and keeping the Strait of Hormuz open will be hampered while the Armed Forces remain in limbo.
Why? Because the defence investment plan (DIP), which sets out the Government’s precise plans for purchasing defence equipment and munitions for our military, is missing in action. Starmer promised it would be published last autumn and there’s still no sign of it as we head towards the summer. That’s a national scandal.
Despite the fragile ceasefire in the Gulf, the Middle East remains as unstable as ever, and there is an ongoing conflict in Ukraine. We are facing wars on several fronts and Starmer literally has no plan.
This isn’t about the Government publishing a document. The DIP is supposed to be the roadmap for rearming Britain. The Defence Secretary himself promised that the DIP will “put into practice” the Government’s 10-year vision for Britain’s Armed Forces. It’s supposed to be the multi-year plan that determines what equipment we buy, which capabilities we will procure, and how we will rebuild Britain’s military strength.
With no plan, Labour’s strategic defence review is just words on paper. We have no plan for procurement. No plan for munitions. No plan for defending this country properly. Everything else is just theatre.
Keir Starmer likes to talk tough on the world stage. He speaks about spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence. His Government has already published the strategic defence review, explaining why that uplift is needed.
But without the DIP, it’s just words, not action. So where is it?
The truth is simple: the Government cannot agree how to pay for our military. Labour backbenchers do not want the spending cuts required to fund serious rearmament. Ministers hesitate. The Prime Minister doesn’t have the backbone to tell his MPs that they need to cut welfare.
And so the plan has been quietly kicked into the long grass.
When it comes to defence, the Prime Minister is all talk and no trousers. It’s time for him to act like a leader, tell his MPs that the defence of our country is government’s first priority, and publish the Defence Investment Plan.
The question is no longer whether Britain must rearm. That debate is over. The question is what trade-offs we are prepared to make to get there.
Rearmament is not cost-free. It requires political courage and the willingness to say that some areas of public spending must give way to the first duty of government: keeping its citizens safe. That is a case this Government has refused to make.
I have been honest about the choices I would take. A future Conservative government would reinstate the two-child benefit cap and redirect that money into defence. We would repurpose £17bn from wasteful net zero schemes and other research money into a new Sovereign Defence Fund to rebuild our military capacity. These are not easy decisions. But they are necessary ones. And more will be required.
I have chosen my priority: the security of the United Kingdom and her people.
But rearming Britain cannot wait for the next election. So I am making a simple offer to the Prime Minister to work together in the national interest. He knows he cannot get the welfare reforms he needs past his backbenchers. They will hold him hostage and block him from making the cuts required to prioritise defence.
So the Conservatives will help. This isn’t a blank cheque of support. It’s an offer to sit down and identify where we can make cuts. And if we reach agreement, then Conservative MPs will back those savings with a three-line whip in Parliament.
Because this is bigger than politics.
The longer the Defence Investment Plan is delayed, the clearer the reality becomes: Britain is not yet rearming. We are simply talking about it.
And in the world we face today, that is nowhere near enough.
