Government warned plan to rebuild armed forces ‘cannot be delivered’ as military faces 'funding crisis’
The Chancellor’s decision to prioritise welfare spending in the budget has made it even harder for the MoD to meet its commitments, an expert has said
A senior military expert who co-authored the Government’s strategic defence review has warned it may not be implemented as the military faces a ‘funding crisis’.
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General Sir Richard Barrons, former Commander of Joint Forces Command, told LBC the MoD “cannot make the sums add up” and risks being forced to cut key capabilities within two years unless ministers provide more money.
His warning comes as Britain’s military leadership is reportedly raising similar concerns privately.
According to reports, the Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton, is writing a letter to Defence Secretary John Healey calling for more money, after holding “very difficult” meetings in recent days over how to continue funding the armed forces.
Overnight, Ministry of Defence officials told newspapers that no letter had been received from the Chief of the Defence Staff.
But when approached by LBC today, the MoD would not confirm whether that remained the case.
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Speaking to LBC, General Barrons said rising costs, delivery delays, and the lack of new spending in this week’s budget mean the MoD is already struggling to fulfil the commitments it set out only months ago.
“This has reached a crisis,” he said. “The demand isn’t being reconciled with the amount of money they’ve got. Costs have gone up, delivery has fallen behind, and when the MoD is looking at its 10-year programme it cannot make the sums add up.”
Sir Richard warned that unless ministers provide a swift cash injection, parts of the armed forces could run out of funding within two years, forcing cuts to equipment and readiness at a time of growing threats.
“This year and next year will be hard for defence. It will essentially financially go backwards,” he said.
He added that the Chancellor’s decision in Wednesday’s budget to prioritise welfare spending - including the £3 billion cost of scrapping the two-child benefit cap - made it even harder for the MoD to meet its commitments.
“No one can argue that this is about affordability – it’s a question of making very hard choices,” he said.
“[The Government] has made a conscious choice to put more of our taxpayers’ money into welfare rather than into defence sooner. That is a very risky thing to do.
“That sits very uncomfortably, and we should recognise that it is going to relegate UK influence as well as our defence and security over the coming five years.”
His comments come as concerns grow about the UK’s resilience to rising threats.
A cross-party report by Parliament’s Defence Select Committee last week found Britain would not currently be able to defend itself against a direct attack – just as reports emerged that a Russian spy ship had shone lasers at RAF pilots near UK waters.
In a statement a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said they were still committed to the strategic defence review.
They said they had a “deliverable and affordable plan” backed by the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War – hitting 2.6% of GDP by 2027.