Latest news with #nuclearDeterrent
Telegraph
17 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Defence spending fails to account for spiralling cost of nuclear deterrent
Defence spending failed to account for the spiralling cost of Britain's nuclear deterrent, MPs have said. A report by the public accounts committee into the Ministry of Defence's spending plans has found that the rising costs of maintaining the nuclear deterrent and submarines risk squeezing budgets for 'conventional capabilities'. It comes after the Government recently published its strategic defence review (SDR), which aimed to show how the Armed Forces will adapt to future battlefields. It committed to renewing the nuclear deterrent while also spending £40 billion on new equipment for the Army and investing in a sixth-generation fighter. However, the committee's report called on the Government to be transparent regarding the 'specific cost details in the specific area of nuclear'. It called for the MoD to publish an equipment plan, which it said should provide a 'window' into the department's spending but has not been published since 2023. The report authors also said that they wanted 'to be assured on the risk of funding not being sucked away from other vital areas earmarked for growth in the SDR'. 'The Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) remains a cornerstone of the UK's defence strategy,' it said. 'However, its cost continues to rise, and there is a risk that these increases will squeeze the budgets for conventional capabilities.' The report states that the nuclear budget was £10.9 billion, around 18 per cent of the whole defence budget in 2024-25. But forecast costs for the DNE for the 10 years from 2023 until 2033 have increased to approximately £128 billion, up from the £117.8 billion reported in the National Audit Offices's 2023 equipment plan report. 'The prioritisation of the DNE has led to government creating a ring-fence which prevents the department from using elsewhere money allocated to delivering the DNE, but which allows money to flow the other way,' the report said. 'The department recognises that one of the big capability questions it must answer through the SDR and its follow-on work is the balance of investment between nuclear and conventional capabilities. However, it has not yet worked this through.' It added: 'The increase in nuclear costs may restrict the money available for other important needs.' The report suggests such other 'important needs' range from improving poor accommodation for troops and addressing the military's retention and recruitment crisis. Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the committee, said: 'In the context of continuing geopolitical uncertainty, this continued delay in providing figures for public scrutiny is a truly unacceptable state of affairs. 'This committee has made a number of recommendations to government to offer it another chance to cooperate. 'There is also a material risk of the costs of the nuclear deterrent beginning to act as a ratchet mechanism. 'As well as a fully worked-up picture of equipment overall, we require specific cost details in the specific area of nuclear, to be assured on the risk of funding not being sucked away from other vital areas earmarked for growth in the SDR.' He added: 'If government does not come forward with the requisite details very soon, Parliament will be unable to critically assess the underpinnings of the SDR, and it will remain to be seen how the public can thereby ascertain whether what is planned, including the pledge of 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence spending, is deliverable. 'The MoD can, however, be rightfully proud of the role it has played in supporting Ukraine in resisting Russia's brutal invasion. 'The adaptability and responsiveness of government in constantly innovating both in the assistance provided and in its own processes has been truly commendable, and this committee thanks all involved for their continuing efforts.'
CBC
02-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
U.K.'s defence review has lessons for Canada, says former NATO chief
Social Sharing Britain intends to expand its submarine fleet and refresh its nuclear deterrent capability as part of a wide-ranging defence review that one of its authors says Canada should read and take to heart. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who ordered the review, unveiled the plan, saying it is meant to prepare the country to fight a modern war and counter the threat from Russia. "We face war in Europe, new nuclear risks, daily cyberattacks, growing Russian aggression in our waters, menacing our skies," Starmer said during a media availability at the Govan Shipbuilders Ltd. yard in Scotland. He praised Lord George Robertson, the former secretary general of NATO who led the defence review. Robertson also spoke last week at CANSEC, the Ottawa defence arms exposition. On Monday, Starmer said Robertson's review team delivered "a blueprint to make Britain safer and stronger: A battle-ready, armour-clad nation, with the strongest alliances and the most advanced capabilities." At the centre of the review is a plan to replace the U.K.'s existing Vanguard-class nuclear submarines and to expand the fleet to 12 boats, including both nuclear and conventional attack variants. Significantly, the review pledges to update the U.K.'s nuclear weapons deterrent, known as the sovereign warhead programme, a £15-billion ($27.8-billion Cdn) investment. There are growing questions in Europe about whether it can rely on the nuclear umbrella of the United States. Unlike other nuclear military powers, the U.K.'s deterrent is deployed exclusively on ballistic missile submarines, not on land, nor in the air. Britain has at least one ballistic missile boat at sea at all times. The defence plan also calls for the construction of six munitions factories in the U.K. and for closer co-operation between government and the defence industry in order to accelerate innovation to a "wartime pace." In total, the review makes 62 recommendations, which the U.K. government is expected to accept in full. Starmer, as part of his statement Monday, pledged a hefty increase to U.K. defence spending, bringing it to 2.5 per cent of the gross domestic product by 2027, with "the ambition to hit three per cent in the next Parliament." He added, however, the goals are subject to economic and fiscal conditions. Robertson, speaking at CANSEC last week, said there's a lot in the U.K. review for Canadians to consider — a message he conveyed privately to Canadian ministers, including Mélanie Joly, the newly appointed industry minister. In a later interview with CBC News on the margins of CANSEC, Robertson said in order to meet ambitious defence plans, bottlenecks in procurement are going to have to be removed. "We are actually seeing on the battlefield in Ukraine that we can duplicate that. How can we speed up decision-making?" he said. He said there needs to be "a much closer and more intimate relationship between the defence industry and the politicians in charge of defence" so that the decision-makers understand what's needed and what's possible from a company perspective. Robertson met with several defence contractors at the conference. "I get from a lot of the companies here, the Canadian companies here, a degree of frustration about the procurement process," he said. "I think [the ministers] are beginning to see, that if they are going to spend more money on defence, they can only spend it if there is a a more streamlined form of procurement." He said both the U.K. and Canada need to "much more to protect themselves, rather relying endlessly on the Americans, for ammunition and for equipment." Canada updated its own policy in the spring of 2024, under the government of former prime minister Justin Trudeau. The re-elected Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney is promising to increase defence spending, as well as buy a fleet of new conventionally powered submarines. Carney has promised Canada will reach the NATO benchmark of two per cent of GDP defence spending by 2030 — or sooner. Robertson, in his interview with CBC News, said it's been frustrating to watch a nation for which he has so much affection "not living up to the obligations" originally set out by the Western military alliance in 2014 following the Russian annexation of Crimea. He said he's encouraged by Carney's pledge.
The Sun
01-06-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Starmer moves to ramp up Britain's defences as ministers go to war over costs
A DOZEN new attack submarines are planned as Britain moves to a war footing — but ministers are still battling over cash. The UK's nuclear warhead programme will also be bolstered, with Defence Secretary John Healey yesterday saying the deterrent is 'what Putin fears most'. 5 5 PM Sir Keir Starmer will today point to increasing global tensions as he publishes the long-awaited Strategic Defence Review. It will involve 'moving to war-fighting readiness' by ramping up munitions, buying 7,000 long-range weapons and creating a new cyber command centre. But the blueprint has been embroiled in a Cabinet row over money amid fears Chancellor Rachel Reeves might not fund the promised three per cent of GDP on defence by 2034. The PM will say on a trip to Scotland: 'From the supply lines to the front lines, this Government is four-square behind the men and women upholding our freedom and security.' Up to 12 nuclear-powered subs will be built under the AUKUS security partnership with the US and Australia. They are conventionally-armed with Tomahawk missiles and are mainly used as intelligence gatherers, lurking off hostile coastlines to intercept communications. They can also deploy special forces and drones. Sir Keir will say a separate £15billion nuclear warheads boost will guarantee the UK's continuous at-sea deterrent until 2030 and protect 9,000 jobs. Mr Healey told the BBC yesterday: 'Our nuclear deterrent has been the ultimate guarantee of security in this country. "It's what Putin fears most. 'And we are the only nation in Nato that commits our nuclear deterrent, in full, to the defence of other Nato allies.' The Strategic Defence Review — carried out by ex-Nato Secretary General Lord Robertson — makes 62 recommendations. But a dust-up is brewing after Labour said the three per cent funding promise was a mere 'ambition' if the economy allowed. Mr Healey appeared to try to bounce Ms Reeves into coughing up by saying: 'I have no doubt that we'll hit that ambition during the next Parliament.' 5 Yet he noticeably did not say, when pressed, if he had cast-iron assurances. Tories want the target hit before the next election. Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge said: 'John Healey has been hung out to dry by Rachel Reeves. "As recently as Thursday, Healey promised that defence spending would definitely hit three per cent, but today he's completely backtracked.' Labour also appear to be welching on pledges to reverse the 10,000 cut to troop numbers under the Tories. Mr Healey admitted it would only come in the 'next Parliament'. He added: 'We've still got more people leaving than joining. The first job is to reverse that trend.' It had been reported he had hoped to secure £2.5billion to increase troop numbers to 76,000. 5 5
The Guardian
24-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Conflict between countries will dominate near future, says ex-Civil Service chief
The next 20 years will be dominated by conflict between nations, the former head of the civil service has said. Simon Case, who stood down as cabinet secretary in December, made the warning in his first major interview since leaving the job. Speaking to the Times newspaper, he urged ministers to develop new means of launching Britain's nuclear deterrent, which is kept aboard constantly patrolling submarines. Land or jet-fired missiles should be considered, he said, in a move the government should announce as part of the coming strategic defence review, an overarching examination of the UK's defence capability. 'In my view you wouldn't rely on a single system for anything. That's true in many walks of life, let alone nuclear deterrence,' he told the paper. Case, the civil service chief under four prime ministers, described himself as a 'pessimist' amid the rising global turmoil. 'As I look out on my children's lives, the next 10 and probably 20 years is going to be dominated by this inter-state conflict,' he said. 'It feels to me that we across the western alliance need to get our skates on and be ready.' Speaking on a new podcast launched by the Times, titled The General and The Journalist, case this week said the UK should be hiking its defence spending to 3% as soon as possible. Keir Starmer's government has promised to raise defence spending to 2.5% of the UK's economic output by 2027, with a commitment to raise it further to 3% in the next parliament. Case retired because of a rare health condition at the end of 2024. He served as cabinet secretary under Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Starmer, and also previously served in senior civil service roles under then-prime ministers David Cameron and Theresa May.
