Overview
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton told peers on Tuesday that the armed forces will have to “dial back” exercises, training and some operations if resource (day‑to‑day) funding is not increased now.
- The long‑delayed Defence Investment Plan remains unpublished and is being reviewed by Dan Jarvis, with a government deadline to publish before the NATO leaders’ summit on 7 July.
- Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has signalled no extra overall cash beyond recent reallocations and a reported Treasury offer of about £13.5 billion has been widely criticised as insufficient, prompting the resignations of John Healey and Al Carns.
- Senior officials say rising running costs and a structural split between resource (RDEL) and capital (CDEL) spending — including an 88% rise in aviation fuel since Covid — have squeezed operational budgets and left readiness vulnerable.
- Industry and allies warn delay and underfunding raise costs and risk to suppliers and to UK credibility in NATO, leaving ministers to weigh capital savings, private finance, tax or borrowing to close the gap.