The Iran war has brutally exposed Britain’s lack of military readiness and shortage of defence assets, with its navy unable to immediately deploy an advanced warship even after a UK air base on Cyprus was targeted by drones. Donald Trump’s jibe that “you don’t even have a navy” was unfair, but hit home. Now, as the FT has reported, Britain risks losing cutting-edge defence technology amid delays in publishing the government’s 10-year defence investment plan (DIP).
The root of the problem is the failure to find sufficient funds for military modernisation after years of under-investment. Sir Keir Starmer’s government is committed to lifting spending on defence and intelligence to 2.6 per cent of GDP from 2027. But it has only a vague “ambition” to raise it to 3 per cent in the next parliament, and to the 3.5 per cent Nato target by 2035.
The UK is spending a lot more on modernising its nuclear deterrent — made even more vital to Britain and Nato by the uncertainty over Trump’s commitment to the US nuclear “umbrella”. But the alliance estimates UK spending, including nuclear, was just 2.31 per cent of GDP in 2025, below the Nato average. Some countries are cranking up spending much faster; Germany has pledged to reach 3.5 per cent by 2029.