Will NATO be convinced by the UK Defence Investment Plan?<\/p>\n
EXPERT COMMENT<\/p>\n
A tortuous process has produced a plan that does not set a clear path towards meeting the UK\u2019s defence expenditure targets. But it includes many elements which will make the UK a more attractive collaborative partner for NATO allies.<\/p>\n
The UK Government\u2019s Defence Investment Plan (DIP) was finally published last week to predictably mixed reviews from the British media and commentariat. It is the outcome of a tortuous process begun with the launch of a \u2018first-of-its-kind\u2019, externally-led Strategic Defence Review (SDR) in mid-July 2024 \u2013 one that was dogged from the start by an unclear budgetary envelope.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The DIP does not set a visible trajectory towards achieving the government\u2019s commitment to spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence in the next Parliament or to meet the 2025 NATO Hague Summit\u2019s agreement to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on core defence by 2035. And even for the remaining years of this Parliament, \u00a0the plan appears to contain a \u00a31.2 billion per year<\/a> funding shortfall. That money will need to be found.<\/p>\n Protracted deliberations between the Ministry of Defence (MOD), the Treasury and No 10 over the size and shape of the future defence programme are nothing new. But this time they were uniquely public and theatrical \u2013 watched with concern not only by observers in the UK but among key allies and partners.\u00a0<\/p>\n The government should ensure that such a conceptually flawed process is also the last-of-its-kind.<\/p>\n