Defence contractor warns Britain is dangerously unprepared as Russia threat grows

547     0
Defence contractor warns Britain is dangerously unprepared as Russia threat grows
Defence contractor warns Britain is dangerously unprepared as Russia threat grows

Britain has "literally no money" for the military, a defence contractor has said, slams Labour for leaving the UK in "grave danger".

The contractor, who wished to stay anonymous, warned that the armed forces lacked the funding to successfully modernise, with "virtually no investment going into autonomous systems".

A spokesman for the company claimed that this is a "national emergency" and that the political elite "especially Labour, don’t get it", despite renewed threats from Russia.

Speaking exclusively to GB News, they warned: "They’ll get it only when it’s too late. We need to suffer some pain before we kick into gear, and it may be too late.

"The European countries are getting on with it and have all had the oh s*** moment. The UK isn’t there yet. I’m very worried."

Indeed, Chancellor John Healey previously resigned as Defence Secretary in Sir Keir Starmer’s government over a failure to commit to spending targets vital to keeping Britain safe.

Yet, the Treasury has now confirmed that Mr Healey’s first budget in October will ignore the three per cent of GDP target by 2030.

In response, former Defence Secretary Sir Ben Wallace said: "The Dip (Defence Investment Plan) itself revealed a real-term cut in the day-to-day running costs of the MoD budget.

"Every time this government has been called upon to up our defences with real money, it has answered with spin and Treasury tricks."

Ministry of Defence qhxidiqxkiqtqinv

Sir Ben fumed: "It doesn’t fool British companies, it doesn’t fool the men and women of the armed forces who must live with the cuts, and it definitely doesn’t fool our enemies."

He added: "John Healey resigned over the situation. He will look a fool if, as Chancellor, he doesn’t now fix it with a real injection of cash to our forces."

When asked who Britain’s biggest threat is, the former Defence Secretary gave an emphatic one-word answer: "Russia!"

Former Head of the British Army, Lord Richard Dannatt, also criticised the government for being "dangerously pathetic", voicing concerns that Labour are making: "Promises for tomorrow, but providing just scraps for today."

He told the People’s Channel: "How many times does the case have to be made to those in government and across the political spectrum that we are facing huge security challenges, yet the response is dangerously pathetic."

"Promises for tomorrow but just scraps for today."

Lord Dannatt added: "The next real test will be the Autumn Budget. Burnham and Healey must show that they love this country enough to protect it, and her people, properly. If this means tax rises - so be it."

In fact, former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, the Ministry of Defence and the Welsh Office have all been ticked off by the UK Statistics Authority for using misleading statistics detailing how much the UK would spend on defence.

Whilst Sir Keir and his departments touted the £270billion figure as an increase in defence spending, the government later had to acknowledge that this was in fact the overall amount of spending for the 2025-2029 period.

In response, Reform UK’s Danny Kruger MP said: "This is a damning indictment of our hollowed-out defence capabilities and the open contempt this Labour government shows for the British military."

"The world is becoming ever more dangerous, and it seems like the British government is the very last to wake up to this fact. It’s posing a grave danger to the British public."

An MoD spokesman said: "The Defence Investment Plan sets out significant investment in the innovative technologies our Armed Forces need that will shape the battlefield of tomorrow.

"Drawing on lessons from Ukraine, we are investing more than £5 billion in drones and autonomous systems and, through a landmark AI partnership announced this week, are working with Ukraine to accelerate the development of next-generation military capabilities using real-world battlefield insights.

"Alongside this, we are investing over £11 billion in munitions and weapons to increase UK stockpiles, strengthening warfighting readiness."

Editorial Team

David Wilson

Politics Editor

Military, Defence Spending, Ministry of Defence, Russia, Labour Party, Defence, Keir Starmer, Danny Kruger, Richard Dannatt, Ben Wallace, John Healey

Read more similar news:

01.02.2023, 09:36 • News
Red Arrow pilot forced to send out emergency alert after bird smashes into jet
02.02.2023, 12:25 • Investigation
Russian tank commander takes out five of his own men in huge tank blunder
02.02.2023, 14:10 • World
Deluded Putin still believes he will win war as 300,000 more recruits prepared
03.02.2023, 19:38 • News
Royal Navy sailors rushed to hospital after drinking contaminated water on ship
04.02.2023, 14:57 • News
Britain's biggest prison 'set to be built near Jamie Oliver's £6m mansion'
04.02.2023, 17:30 • News
Taxpayers pay millions on hotels for defence chiefs as troops live in squalor
06.02.2023, 22:30 • Politics
Speed-up UK weapons production to replace arms sent to Ukraine, warns Labour
11.02.2023, 21:47 • Crime
Over 18,000 troops are victims of bullying at work - yet 90% won't speak out
12.02.2023, 06:14 • World
Fears UK military too small to fight Russia as Germany asked to lead NATO force
13.02.2023, 14:55 • World
Russian soldiers dying at highest rate since first week of brutal war in Ukraine