A government minister has refused to say when the long-delayed defence investment plan will be published, insisting that “work is ongoing” months after it was due to be published.
Pensions minister Torsten Bell said the plan – which was expected last autumn – will be set out “when it’s ready”, amid reports of a major funding gap and Cabinet splits over the plan.
It comes amid mounting pressure on ministers as the Conservatives seek to force a deadline for the government to publish the review.
The party will push for a vote on its amendment to the Armed Forces Bill that would require Defence Secretary John Healey to lay the defence investment plan before the Commons and Lords within a month of the legislation getting Royal Assent.
The Tory push will come on June 2 to mark a year since Labour published its Strategic Defence Review. That review pledged to end the “hollowing out” of the UK’s armed forces, but the investment plan to set out defence spending priorities over the next decade – originally slated to come in autumn last year – has still not been released.
Asked when the defence investment plan will be published, Mr Bell told Sky News: “The work is ongoing on that. We want to see it come out as soon as possible, but we do have to get the details right, but that isn’t holding up levels of defence spending already increasing.”
Asked whether the delay suggests the Cabinet can’t agree on the plan, he said: “No, it suggests that you’ve got to get the details right. I mean, look what the conflict in Ukraine has been teaching us, that there are big changes in the world of warfare, and we need to make sure that our investment plans match up to that, and we need to get the details right.
“That’s what the prime minister said, it’s an absolute priority for him, and we’ll publish it when it’s ready.”
The government has pledged to increase defence spending to 2.7 per cent of GDP from next year, rising to 5 per cent by 2035 in response to an increasingly volatile geopolitical climate. But reports have suggested there is a funding gap of around £28bn in the existing plans.
Lord George Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary and one of the authors of the Strategic Defence Review, used a lecture last month to hit out at the government’s “corrosive complacency” on defence spending and accused the prime minister of being unwilling to “make the necessary investment”.
Former Tory defence secretary Ben Wallace also piled in on the criticism, telling The Independent: “Lord Robertson, like the rest of us, has become increasingly frustrated with a prime minister who talks the talk but doesn’t follow it up with funding and action.
“The PM needs to show leadership, not spin, on our defence.”
He also accused ministers of “taking the public for fools” after the defence secretary, John Healey, claimed that the UK was ready to defend itself.
Shadow defence minister David Reed said: “Labour has no plan to keep this country safe, with the defence investment plan still missing a whole year after the Strategic Defence Review was published.
“The government reportedly faces a £28 billion black hole in its defence budget, having chosen higher welfare spending over bolstering our military at the most dangerous moment in a generation.
“We will force a vote to compel Labour to finally publish its long-delayed defence investment plan.
“Only the Conservatives will take the tough decisions needed to ensure Britain remains a cornerstone of global security and to stand up for our Armed Forces who work tirelessly to keep us safe.”