Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of treating Parliament with contempt after the Speaker of the House of Commons warned ministers not to publish the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan while MPs are away from Westminster.
In an unusually blunt intervention, Sir Lindsay Hoyle said it would be an “utter disgrace” if the Government chose to unveil its flagship defence blueprint on Friday, depriving MPs of the opportunity to scrutinise its contents.
Addressing the Commons, the Speaker delivered a pointed rebuke amid growing speculation that ministers intend to release the document at the end of the parliamentary week.
He said: “There are strong rumours that the Government is going to produce its defence investment plan on Friday. That would be an utter disgrace and an utter kick in the face to the members of this House.
“I will say to Downing Street, Government’s responsibility in the ministerial code states major announcements should be made here.
“Once again, this may be speculation, and I am sure it will be corrected, but I will be appalled if it is done on a Friday when members have been waiting so long.
“This is all parties, including the Government benches, who has great interest in the defence plan. We all have jobs, we all have people who serve in the armed forces, so surely we must end this speculation and treat this House with the respect that members were elected here to.
“Once again, it seems to me we are becoming second-class citizens with the Government. I don’t want that to be the case and I hope that I’m going to be proved wrong.”
The warning piles fresh pressure on Sir Keir, who is already facing criticism over repeated delays to the Defence Investment Plan and mounting questions about how Labour intends to fund a major increase in military spending.
The plan is expected to set out how Britain will rearm in response to growing threats from Russia, instability in the Middle East and increasing pressure from NATO allies for higher defence spending.
However, opposition MPs have accused ministers of dragging their feet while Britain faces what defence chiefs have described as the most dangerous security environment in a generation.
The prospect of publishing the strategy on a Friday has infuriated parliamentarians because major government announcements are traditionally made to the Commons first, allowing ministers to be questioned directly by MPs.
Critics argue that releasing the document outside normal parliamentary scrutiny would amount to an attempt to avoid difficult questions over funding, procurement decisions and potential cuts to existing military programmes.
The row comes as reports suggest fierce disagreements remain between the Treasury and the Ministry of Defence over the scale of future investment.
Defence Secretary John Healey is understood to have pushed for significantly higher spending to meet the ambitions set out in the Strategic Defence Review, while Chancellor Rachel Reeves has sought to limit the overall cost amid growing pressure on the public finances.
Questions also remain over whether key programmes, including the Royal Navy’s next-generation Type 83 destroyers and elements of Britain’s future combat air capability, could face delays as ministers seek to balance competing priorities.
Conservative MPs seized on the Speaker’s intervention as evidence of a Government struggling to maintain control of one of its most important policy announcements.
One senior Tory said ministers appeared determined to “bury bad news and avoid scrutiny” rather than allow Parliament to debate decisions that will shape Britain’s armed forces for decades.
For Sir Keir, the controversy threatens to overshadow what was intended to be a major statement of Britain’s military ambitions.
Instead, Labour now faces accusations that it is attempting to sidestep parliamentary accountability on an issue central to the nation’s security.
With NATO allies demanding greater commitment and defence chiefs warning that Britain is falling behind emerging threats, the manner in which the plan is unveiled may prove almost as controversial as its contents.
Leave a Comment