Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has rejected claims that the government is failing to adequately fund the armed forces, pushing back against accusations that ministers are intentionally delaying a clear path to increased defence spending. Following criticism over the recent Budget’s lack of a specific roadmap to reach the target of spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030, Streeting insisted that the current financial approach is robust and necessary. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has denied “kicking the can down the road” over how much the UK spends on defence. Responding on Thursday, Streeting told Today: “I like Tan very much, he’s a friend and I respect him, but I strongly disagree with him. According to streeting, Breakfast the new rules, aiming to create “bang for the British buck”, would help achieve this target given increasing defence spending “does come at a cost to the country and other things we’d like to spend money on”. Healey resigned as then-Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s defence secretary in June over not spending enough on defence.
The controversy stems from an ongoing dispute with the cross-party Commons defence committee. Its chair, Labour MP Tan Dhesi, has argued that vital decisions regarding the defence budget were neglected in the latest fiscal announcement and pushed into the future. Dhesi stated that while he welcomes the move to plug a £4.7bn shortfall in the Defence Investment Plan—achieved by asking other departments to reduce capital budgets by 1%—the absence of a precise 2030 trajectory leaves the nation vulnerable to major conflicts. He warned that without building capabilities now, “we risk leaving ourselves seriously vulnerable in the event of a major conflict”. According to we had hoped to see that the chancellor would set out a precise pathway to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2030,” Dhesi, Radio 4’s Today programme.
Streeting dismissed these concerns as unfounded, maintaining that the government is funding essential capabilities and injecting additional money into the sector immediately. He suggested that waiting for the comprehensive spending review, anticipated in the latter half of 2027, allows the cabinet to assess national priorities holistically rather than making isolated fiscal decisions. Streeting acknowledged that while the UK is prepared to handle hostile threats, the current state of the armed forces reflects over a decade of historical under-investment. But instead some of those key decisions on defence have lamentably been delayed until next year’s spending review. According to he, Waiting for the spending review, which does not have a fixed date and could come in the second half of 2027, was “the right thing to do” so ministers can look at “spending in the round”. But “we’re not where we’d want to be”, he added that the UK was ready to deal with hostile threats.
To bolster the domestic defence sector, Chancellor John Healey and Streeting have unveiled an “offset strategy” policy. Under these new rules, foreign companies awarded contracts exceeding £50m will be required to invest an equal value back into British factories, workforce training, and employment. The Ministry of Defence will implement this requirement on a case-by-case basis starting in April 2027. The government noted that similar mandates are already employed by nations such as Poland, Norway, and the Netherlands to maximize the economic impact of procurement.
Despite these measures, the government continues to face significant pressure from opposition figures.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch asserted that the administration has failed to provide a viable plan to hit the 3% GDP target. According to tory leader Kemi Badenoch, On Wednesday that Healey “failed his own test” by not setting out a “plan for 3%”.
Furthermore, Conservative shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge criticized the proposed Multilateral Defence Mechanism—a collaborative bank project with Finland, Poland, and the Netherlands meant to streamline joint procurement—as an unnecessary reliance on borrowing.
Cartlidge argued that the national debt currently exceeds £3 trillion and suggested the government should prioritize welfare spending cuts over increased debt to fund the military.
Analysts remain skeptical regarding the government’s ability to meet both the 2030 target and the Nato-wide objective of 3.5% of GDP by 2035. With current UK defence spending estimated at 2.6% of GDP, independent estimates suggest that an additional £10bn in annual funding may be necessary to bridge the gap. As the debate continues, Streeting and Healey are set to visit a BAE shipbuilding facility in Glasgow to further promote the new investment strategy as a way to generate greater value from existing defence expenditure.
