Category Archives: Ministry of Defence

Wes Streeting describes ‘unbelievable volume’ of homophobic abuse since becoming defence secretary

Posted on by

Streeting says role is chance to show strength and challenge stereotype that ‘persists in dark corners of internet’

Wes Streeting has described receiving a mass of homophobic abuse since he was made defence secretary last month, while also saying his appointment had been welcomed by some in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as a sign of change.

Until 2000, gay men and lesbian women were banned from serving in the UK military, with about 200-plus personnel thrown out of the forces each year due to their sexuality – an estimate, as proper records were not kept.

Continue reading...

Moscow threat of ‘consequences’ will not alter UK support for Ukraine, says Burnham

Posted on by

Prime minister responds to Russian anger over Kyiv’s use of British-made drones in ‘deep strike’ campaign

Andy Burnham says the UK will continue to “support Ukraine 100%” after Russia threatened consequences after strikes by British-made drones.

The Russian embassy to the UK said on Monday that Britain had been deliberately escalating the Ukraine conflict and the deeper its involvement, “the higher the price it will pay”.

Continue reading...

Taliban threaten former Afghan police worker after MoD leak reveals identity

Posted on by

UK has refused resettlement application despite ‘years of loyal service’ that have resulted in ‘constant fear’ of reprisals

A man has received threats from the Taliban after his work for the Afghan police was revealed by a Ministry of Defence leak and the UK refused his application for resettlement.

Hamid* worked for the Afghan national police special unit and received certificates for his work signed by senior British figures praising his “dedication, unparalleled service and leadership”. His details were also included in an accidental 2022 leak by an MoD official that identified 18,700 Afghans who had worked with or for the British government.

Continue reading...

MoD cancels army training in Kenya over powers to prosecute British soldiers

Posted on by

September exercise called off after Kenya raises concerns over funding and jurisdiction for criminal offences

The British army has been forced to cancel training for its troops in Kenya after the Kenyan government refused to ratify a bilateral defence agreement.

While the UK government wanted to renew the existing agreement, Kenyan lawmakers had sought changes to give local authorities greater powers to hold British soldiers accountable for any offences committed in the country.

Continue reading...

Minister calls on Burnham to show path to 3.5% target on UK defence spending

Posted on by

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...

Burnham may have to boost defence spending to pass ‘Moscow test’, says ex-military chief

Posted on by

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...

Tuesday briefing: How the UK’s military spending row exposes Starmer’s defence dilemma

Posted on by

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...

Zelenskyy thanks UK for intercepting Russian shadow fleet oil tanker after armed forces board vessel – as it happened

Posted on by

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...

MoD reports ‘minor technical issue’ with aircraft carrier docked in Norway

Posted on by

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...

Starmer’s ‘corrosive complacency’ on defence has put UK in peril, says ex-Nato chief

Posted on by

George Robertson says Iran war should be wake-up call to address military underfunding in scathing remarks

The British government has shown a “corrosive complacency towards defence” and put the UK “in peril”, according to a government adviser, in fierce criticisms of Keir Starmer’s military policy.

The former Nato secretary general and author of the government’s strategic defence review, George Robertson, believes Starmer was “not willing to make the necessary investment”, the Financial Times has reported.

Continue reading...

NHS and MoD will be urged to buy British tech to drive growth amid Iran crisis

Posted on by

Treasury minister Spencer Livermore trails new strategy as chancellor pins hopes on benefits of AI amid global uncertainty

The NHS and Ministry of Defence will be urged to buy British tech, as the government pins its hopes on the benefits of artificial intelligence to kickstart growth in the face of the Iran crisis, Treasury minister Spencer Livermore has said.

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will restate her economic strategy in a high profile lecture on Tuesday, just as rocketing oil prices have raised fears of higher inflation and weaker growth.

Continue reading...

UK preparing aircraft carrier for possible Middle East deployment

Posted on by

Royal Navy readying HMS Prince of Wales so it can be quickly deployed if decision made to mobilise it to region

The UK is preparing an aircraft carrier before a possible deployment to the Middle East, the Ministry of Defence has said.

Royal Navy workers in Portsmouth are readying HMS Prince of Wales, the navy’s flagship, meaning it could be deployed more quickly if a decision is made to mobilise it to the region.

Continue reading...

Hezbollah said to have launched drone that struck UK RAF airbase in Cyprus

Posted on by

Two more drones intercepted on Monday, authorities say, in what appears to be sustained targeting of base

A one-way attack drone – said to have been launched by Lebanon’s Hezbollah – struck the UK’s RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus at about midnight on Sunday, prompting a partial evacuation of the military facility.

Two more drones were successfully intercepted on Monday morning, the Cypriot authorities said, as part of what appears to be a sustained targeting of the base on the third day of the war in the Middle East.

Continue reading...

UK troops treated for hearing problems in final tests of Ajax armoured vehicle

Posted on by

The £5.5bn model was classified as fit for army deployment in September but soldiers continue to raise health fears

Soldiers had to be given medical treatment for hearing problems this summer during final testing of the British army’s new Ajax armoured vehicle, whose introduction has been delayed for several years amid concerns about deafness.

The model, which costs £5.5bn for 589 vehicles, was nevertheless classified as fit for deployment in September. An investigation concluded there were “no systemic issues” – but there remain health concerns among the troops involved.

Continue reading...

Britain sends small number of troops to monitor Gaza ceasefire

Posted on by

Defence secretary says UK will play ‘anchor role’ in US-led civil military coordination centre

British troops have been sent to Israel to help monitor the ceasefire in Gaza after a request from the US.

The defence secretary, John Healey, announced the deployment of a small number of planning officers, including a senior commander, at an event on Monday night. He said the UK would play an “anchor role”. Ten days ago the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the UK had “no plans” to send soldiers to Gaza.

Continue reading...

More than 7,300 Afghans to be resettled in UK after MoD data leak, says National Audit Office

Posted on by

Watchdog’s report says government is unable to calculate exact cost of response to data breach, raising doubt over £850m estimate

More than 7,300 Afghans are expected to be resettled in the UK as a result of a major government data breach, according to a National Audit Office report that raises doubts over officials’ claims of a £850m cost.

The accidental leak by an MoD official in 2022 of 18,700 Afghans’ details who had worked with or for the British government led to the opening of a new route by which those endangered could seek relocation to the UK from their home country.

Continue reading...

Britain told US that invading Iraq could cost Blair his premiership, papers reveal

Posted on by

Adviser to former PM said Bush’s pursuit of regime change in Baghdad could also cause ‘regime change in London’

The stark terms in which the US was warned that invading Iraq without a second UN security council resolution could cost Tony Blair his premiership have been revealed in newly released documents.

Blair’s foreign policy adviser, David Manning, warned Condoleezza Rice, the then US national security adviser: “The US must not promote regime change in Baghdad at the price of regime change in London.”

Continue reading...

Grant Shapps defends use of superinjunction to suppress Afghan data leak

Posted on by

Shapps, defence secretary when the superinjunction was imposed, said its use was ‘entirely justified’ to save lives

The former defence secretary Grant Shapps has defended the use of an unprecedented superinjunction to suppress a data breach that led to the UK government relocating 15,000 Afghans.

The Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) was created in haste after it emerged that personal information about 18,700 Afghans who had applied to come to the UK had been leaked in error by a British defence official in early 2022.

Continue reading...

‘There’s a bit of a queue forming’: how UK firms are enticing buyers for the next generation of fighter jets

Posted on by

Inside the hangars where robots are poised to keep the UK a top-tier military nation and continue more than a century of building military aircraft

In a factory on the banks of the River Ribble in Lancashire, robot arms stand on a floor striped with glowing lights. They will hold the tail fin for a test model for the UK’s next generation fighter jet, which is intended to fly for the first time in 2027. The jet, known as Tempest, will act as a symbol of Britain’s hopes to remain a top-tier military nation and keep alive more than a century of building military aircraft.

Yet things are markedly different in another hangar at the Warton site, run by British arms manufacturer BAE Systems. There, production of the Typhoon jet, a mainstay of the Royal Air Force (RAF) for two decades, has – for now at least – ground to a halt.

Continue reading...

Wallace rejects claim Afghans with ‘tenuous’ links to UK admitted as ex-Tory minister says resettlement scheme was ‘hapless’ – live

Posted on by

Johnny Mercer, former veterans minister, sharply critical of how Afghan resettlement programme handled

In an interview with LBC Ben Wallace, the former Tory defence secretary, hit back at his former ministerial colleague Johnny Mercer rather more forcefully than he did on the Today programme (see 8.09am) over Mercer’s comments about the Afghan resettlement programme.

Tom Swarbrick, the presenter, quoted what Mercer said about how this “whole farcical process has been the most hapless display of ineptitude by successive ministers and officials that I saw in my time in government”.

No, I don’t agree with it. I think my record would show the opposite. It was me and Priti Patel, before the collapse of Kabul, who decided we were going to accelerate bringing people back who were under threat …

People hadn’t come out before. And we made sure that we did this. I think what Johnny, you know, fails to grasp, is quite the massive scale of collapse that happened very quickly in Afghanistan, leaving people at risk, and we had to do our very best.

Continue reading...