Britain’s military chiefs have warned that defence plans are becoming unworkable amid a £28 billion funding shortfall—yet Chancellor Rachel Reeves has refused to reopen spending talks, despite mounting concerns over readiness.
The head of Britain’s Royal Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hav Smyth, said on Tuesday that defence officials are working “as hard as we can” to boost the sector, amid lofty talk from the government about peacekeeping forces in Ukraine and the bolstering of Europe’s nuclear deterrent. But, he added, decisive action is being delayed “at the political level.”
Indeed, reports on Wednesday revealed that Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves has rejected requests from the Ministry of Defence to increase its budget, even though officials say a £28 billion (€32.3bn) funding shortfall over the next four years already renders defence plans impossible.
Just last week, Labour approved more than £500 million (€570 million) for new air defence missiles and systems for Ukraine. Yet when British defence chiefs sought to reopen budget discussions, Reeves made clear that “no extra money is available.”
Defence assessments indicate that Britain’s Army would last about a week in conflict before running out of ammunition, and its ‘deterrent’ nuclear submarine fleet is “no longer fit for purpose.”
The situation is not much better across the rest of Europe, including in France, which has pledged alongside the UK to send troops to Ukraine. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Monday criticised defence spending under Emmanuel Macron’s administration. He said Paris “repeatedly and correctly refers to our pursuit of European sovereignty,” but “Anyone who talks about it needs to act accordingly in their own country.”
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
