UK Defence Investment Plan Still Unpublished One Year After Review but Due Before NATO Summit

The Public Accounts Committee issued a report last night that faulted the government for leaving the Defence Investment Plan unpublished one year after the Strategic Defence Review appeared in June 2025. The committee said the absence of the plan has damaged the nation's credibility, its safety, its armed forces, and certainty within the defence industrial base.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the committee, said excuses that officials were taking time to get the details right do not hold.

He added that any minister attempting to explain the delay should instead apologise for the message the bureaucratic drift has sent to the public, to allies, and to adversaries. The Prime Minister has indicated the plan will be published before next month's NATO summit, with an announcement possibly set for 11 June. The document was originally scheduled for autumn 2025.

Disagreements over funding have kept the plan on hold. Boosting defence spending could require at least £28 billion, yet Rachel Reeves and the Prime Minister have sought to limit additional outlays to as little as £12 billion. The committee also examined the Ajax armoured vehicle programme, a £6 billion procurement that remains non-operational.

The vehicles have caused hearing problems and sickness among dozens of soldiers, and current maintenance requires checks after every use. The Ministry of Defence is developing upgrades, though the report did not include cost estimates for those changes.

5 billion in-year cuts to Ministry of Defence operational and revenue spending show the government is failing the country's defences both above and below the waves.

The Ministry of Defence spokesman responded that the government is providing an extra £270 billion in defence spending across this Parliament. The spokesman added that more than 1,400 major contracts have been signed since July 2024, with nine in ten awarded to British-based companies.

GB News reported that all five Astute-class submarines are awaiting maintenance and that HMS Prince of Wales is in repairs off the coast of Norway.

The Chief of the Defence Staff has described the present period as the most dangerous in decades and said the country must prepare for longer conflicts.