No.10 hits back at ‘corrosive complacency’ claim as defence row explodes

Downing Street has dismissed warnings that Britain is becoming militarily vulnerable due to underinvestment in defence, after a former NATO secretary general accused Sir Keir Starmer of presiding over “corrosive complacency” on national security.

Lord George Robertson, who led NATO from 1999 to 2003 and authored the government’s Strategic Defence Review, said the UK risked undermining its armed forces unless ministers committed to a substantial uplift in spending.

He also described current attitudes within government as “vandalism”, in comments that are likely to intensify pressure on the Treasury.

A spokesperson for Keir Starmer said: “Our armed forces are among the best in the world. The government has delivered the largest sustained defence spending increase since the Cold War.”

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The intervention comes amid growing uncertainty over the government’s long-delayed 10-year Defence Investment Plan (DIP), originally expected to be published last autumn but still without a confirmed release date.

A Downing Street spokesman insisted there was no basis for alarm, saying: “I completely reject that,” when asked about claims that the UK military was underprepared or at risk.

The spokesman added that the government remained committed to modernising defence capabilities, arguing that the forthcoming investment plan must reflect “the new global landscape” and that ministers must “act more decisively and swiftly”.

They also pointed to ongoing work on public spending priorities, including reforms to the welfare system, which Robertson has highlighted as a key source of fiscal pressure affecting defence funding decisions.

The exchange highlights a widening divide between ministers seeking to balance fiscal constraints with multiple domestic priorities, and senior defence figures warning that delays in long-term planning risk weakening Britain’s strategic posture at a time of heightened geopolitical tension.

Despite repeated calls from military and political figures for clarity on future funding, the government has not yet set out a timetable for publication of the Defence Investment Plan.