New defence secretary Wes Streeting denounces drill by Neustrashimy as ‘performative and irresponsible’
A Russian warship fired its main cannon in a short notice test 45 miles south of Plymouth on Monday, the day Andy Burnham was appointed as prime minister.
The Neustrashimy suddenly announced it intended to fire its guns in the morning and requested that a British warship, which had been tracking it, retreat a couple of miles to a safe distance.
Continue reading...How to hit the 3.5% of GDP defence spending promise would be a matter for ‘the next prime minister’, MPs told
The Treasury has as yet carried out no analysis of the trade-offs necessary for the UK to hit the 3.5% of GDP defence spending promise made to Nato, the department’s chief secretary has said.
Under robust questioning in a joint session of the Treasury and defence select committees on Wednesday, Lucy Rigby repeatedly said that how to fund additional defence spending would be a matter for “the next prime minister”.
Continue reading...Dan Jarvis, who wants to stay on as defence secretary, says he is confident PM-in-waiting values national security
The new defence secretary, Dan Jarvis, has called on Andy Burnham to increase defence spending dramatically from 2030 and “evidence the trajectory” towards a Nato target that would mean £25bn a year more for the military by the middle of the next decade.
The former paratrooper said he was confident that the prime minister-in-waiting valued national security, as he openly lobbied him for cash that would probably have to come from cuts elsewhere.
Continue reading...Starmer says defence spending cannot be ‘bottomless pit’ and MoD has to ‘spend better’
Keir Starmer is speaking now.
They are at Malloy Aeronautics, a firm that designs heavy-lift drones, and Starmer says this morning they showed him one of the heaviest drones he had ever seen.
Last year, I made the decision in the national interest to reprioritise aid spending towards defence and achieve the biggest uplift in defence spending since the end of the cold war.
That was the right choice because the world has changed. National security is economic security.
Continue reading...Adm Sir Tony Radakin says UK currenly ‘falls short’ of level required to keep Russian threats at bay
The former head of the armed forces has told Andy Burnham that plans for defence spending must meet a “Moscow test” to keep Russian threats at bay, warning the UK currently “falls short” of that level of commitment.
Adm Sir Tony Radakin, who was the chief of the defence staff until last year, said that if the government’s defence investment plan (Dip), expected to be published this week, was “not enough” then the probable next prime minister would have to find more funding before the general election.
Continue reading...Ex-defence secretary John Healey and ex-defence minister Al Carns have given resignation statements to MPs
Speaking to reporters at the G7, Keir Starmer also defended the defence investment plan (DIP) draft that led to John Healey’s resignation as defence secretary last week. Starmer confirmed that Dan Jarvis, the new defence secretary, is getting some input before the publication of the DIP in its final version.
Starmer said:
The position on investment in defence is firstly that we increased last year defence spending from 2.3% to 2.6%, that’s the biggest increase since the 1980s, and that means £270bn will be spent this parliament on defence.
On top of that [the] defence investment plan which obviously gives us capability for the future. We will put even more money in relation to that. I’ve been really clear that’s required difficult decisions, I have taken the decision to reallocate money from other departments.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: An argument about money has also spotlighted questions about Britain’s place in the world and the changing face of warfare
Good morning. What conflict has raged longer than the hundred years war? The fight between the Ministry of Defence and the Treasury over defence spending.
I’d love to claim this as my own, but avoid patter theft this early in the day. So I’ll credit my colleague Dan Sabbagh, the Guardian’s defence and security editor, who spoke to me ahead of this week’s G7 meeting, in France, where Keir Starmer arrived yesterday for what could be his final international summit. The prime minister can anticipate candid discussions about international partnerships in conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, both of which may soon demand increased involvement from the British military.
Middle East | Donald Trump has declared that the strait of Hormuz will be “completely open” from Friday, as western leaders gathering at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains battled to prevent the fragile US deal with Iran from almost immediately unravelling.
UK politics | Political hatred and division in the UK is probably worse now than during the Brexit referendum, when Jo Cox was murdered, says Kim Leadbeater, Cox’s sister who is now also a Labour MP.
Crime | A schoolteacher described as a “serial manipulator and a serial liar” has been found guilty of sexually abusing and murdering a baby he and his partner had adopted.
Environment | Half of the world’s children are exposed to at least three overlapping climate hazards threatening their health, education and survival, according to a Unicef report.
US news | Eight people are presumed dead after a B-52 bomber crashed shortly after takeoff on Monday morning at a US air force base in California’s Mojave Desert, officials said.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Carns, who quit last week, says he was angered by unwillingness to confront sunk costs of legacy programmes
There is “unbelievable” waste and inefficiency at the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the former armed forces minister Al Carns has said, adding that every time he would “turn a stone over” he would get another shock.
Carns said that during his time as a defence minister he had been angered by the unwillingness to confront the sunk costs of legacy programmes – and suggested mismanaged programmes such as tanks investment should be scrapped in favour of new technology.
Continue reading...Keir Starmer said British armed forces intercepted a Russian shadow fleet vessel in the early hours of Sunday morning
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked the UK for intercepting a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the English Channel, describing it as an “important step”.
“It was Russia’s hubris, fuelled by high oil and gas revenues, that paved the way for this war, and every decision by partners that deprives Russia of money also limits the war itself” he wrote in a post on X, in which he personally thanked the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, and “all Britons”.
Continue reading...The prime minister defended the ‘hard-edged decisions’ he has made to cut funding from other departments to spend more on defence
As armed forces minister, Al Carns was not involved in work on the defence investment plan (Dip). In his resignation letter, he said it was flawed not just because of the amount of funding involved; he also claimed it focused too much on the wrong capability. He said (and I’ve highlighted the key phrases in bold):
The character of conflict is changing faster than our procurement can keep up with. We are still purchasing capability suitable for the last war while our adversaries arm for the next one. Platforms that cost billions can be defeated by systems that cost thousands. Any serious defence investment plan has to start from that reality.
While I had no hand in the defence investment plan, that distance does allow me to say plainly that it is not built for the threat we face.
I want to see a higher percentage for uncrewed systems, AI, data – data is the new gunpowder – and we’ve got to move that forward if we are going to win the next war.
Too many working people in this country feel insecure even when they are doing everything right. They work hard, contribute, pay their taxes and still feel one setback away from trouble. Public confidence in our institutions is weakening and politics increasingly looks performative while everyday life gets harder.
The machinery of government itself has been left to decay. Decisions that should take days, take months. Departments fight each other instead of the problem. Officials and ministers who know the truth are not always rewarded for telling it. We are trying to govern a more dangerous world with processes designed for a calmer one, and the gap is now showing in the things that matter most.
Continue reading...PM promises to fight any leadership challenge, saying any successor would face same problems as him
Keir Starmer has said he knows he has to “turn things around” after a series of crises culminating in the resignation of John Healey, the defence secretary, but warned that any successor would face the same difficult decisions.
In an interview with the BBC after Healey’s departure in a row over defence spending, Starmer promised again to fight any leadership challenge from Andy Burnham or others, saying: “I’m not going to walk away.”
Continue reading...Bodies were buried in Happisburgh after HMS Invincible sank in 1801 on way to join Nelson at Battle of Copenhagen
A mass grave for 119 sailors who drowned more than 200 years ago could be exhumed to avoid their remains being exposed by coastal erosion.
HMS Invincible sank off the Norfolk coast in 1801 on its way to join Horatio Nelson’s fleet at the Battle of Copenhagen. The recovered bodies of those who drowned were buried at St Mary’s church in Happisburgh, the nearest village to the shipwreck.
Continue reading...HMS Prince of Wales expected to set sail in the coming days, Ministry of Defence says
A technical issue has been detected on a UK navy flagship while docked in Norway after working with Nato and the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), the government has said.
Earlier this month, HMS Prince of Wales – one of Britain’s two flagship aircraft carriers built for £6.4bn – set sail for Nordic waters from Loch Long, in Argyll and Bute, to provide security in the Atlantic and High North regions.
Continue reading...British army is 80-90% short of drones as military exercise aims to build on European defence strategy
Deep in Charing Cross underground station, in the disused terminus of the Jubilee line, a secret Nato command bunker has this week been discreetly at work. Dozens of mostly British soldiers were engaged in a war game defending Estonia from a Russian invasion in 2030, unbeknownst to commuters and tourists bustling above.
The secret chambers are behind two sets of normally locked, metal double doors. A red glow at the bottom of the escalator beyond is the first sign of troops below; next are mocked up newspaper covers pasted over ageing adverts. A British Nato force has deployed to Estonia they blare, in response to a Russian massing of troops on the border.
Continue reading...UK calls incident ‘unacceptable’ after Su-27 jet comes within six metres of unarmed RAF plane over Black Sea
A Russian jet flew within six metres of an RAF spy plane flying at 500mph over the Black Sea, one of two mid-air incidents last month described as “dangerous and unacceptable” by the defence secretary, John Healey.
An Su-27 jet conducted six passes in front of an unarmed RAF Rivet Joint flying close to its nose in mid April, risking a collision that could have caused a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.
Continue reading...While RAF Lakenheath holds its secrets, neighbours contend with plane spotters, protesters and sonic booms
The local people know there is something going on when the internet and phone signal drops dead, they say. If the heavy bombers are flying low, the teachers will pause their school assembly until the thunderous din has passed. The parish council has been briefed on the intricacies of sonic booms. Car insurance is more expensive here as the Americans “can’t drive” and sometimes find themselves on the wrong side of the road. The base became less open to its neighbours after 9/11. But everyone knows there are secrets held beyond the barbed wire, not least that this is where the nukes are stored.
RAF Lakenheath is the largest US air force (USAF) base in Europe, part of what is known as the “tri-base area” of Suffolk, a stretch of 20 sq miles (52 sq km) of land leased to the US government around which a peculiar ecosystem has developed over the eight decades of the American presence.
Continue reading...Carmakers aim to expand into UK defence sector, exploiting spending boom by Nato countries
Jaguar Land Rover and General Motors are considering an expansion into UK defence via a £900m military contract, as carmakers seek to exploit a spending boom by Nato countries racing to rearm.
The manufacturers are among a group of automotive firms vying to make thousands of 4x4s for the armed forces to replace an ageing fleet of Land Rovers that have been out of production since 2016.
Continue reading...Moscow steps up maritime presence in North Sea after UK threats to seize shadow fleet oil tankers
Britain’s Royal Navy tracked and followed a Russian frigate every day last month as it sailed from the Atlantic to the North Sea, as Moscow steps up its maritime presence after UK threats to seize shadow fleet oil tankers.
The Russian navy’s Admiral Grigorovich escorted six Russia-linked vessels during April, including at least three under economic sanction passing east through the Dover strait, while being watched continuously by four UK ships and helicopters.
Continue reading...Jets flew from bases in Romania but did not open fire as potential targets stayed within Ukrainian airspace
Two RAF Typhoons have been scrambled from a Romanian air base to engage Russian drones close to Nato airspace, although they did not open fire.
British defence sources said the fighter jets did not enter Ukrainian airspace, contradicting reports that Russian drones had been shot down by the RAF there, an event which would have represented a major escalation in hostilities between the western alliance and Moscow.
Continue reading...Proposal at heart of offer made during a 30-country two-day meeting jointly organised by France
Britain is prepared to deploy a squadron of RAF Typhoons based in Qatar to patrol over the strait of Hormuz as part of a multinational mission to keep open the strategic waterway once the Iran war comes to an end.
The UK military also offered to deploy mine-hunting drones and specialist divers to help clear the strait mined by Iran – but no decision has been made on whether HMS Dragon or another warship would also be deployed.
Continue reading...