Starmer: Wave of investments will make military an ‘integrated fighting machine'
Sir Keir Starmer has pledged a wave of new investments to turn the armed forces into a 'formidable, integrated fighting machine' as part of the Government's defence review.
The Prime Minister said he would invest in a military that is 'more integrated, more ready, more lethal than ever'.
As part of the review, due to be published on Monday, the Government has pledged £1.5 billion to set up at least six factories, and will support the procurement of up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons.
The move is in response to the review's call for an 'always on' munitions production capacity that could be scaled up quickly.
The new funding will see UK munitions spend hit £6 billion during this Parliament and support around 1,800 jobs throughout the country.
Sir Keir called the review a 'radical blueprint' that would drive forward investments in shipbuilding, drone technology and cyber defences.
Preparing for the threats of tomorrow means 'bringing together every capability we have, from drones, to artillery, to human instinct and intelligence, into one formidable, integrated fighting machine,' he wrote in The Sun.
'To achieve this, we are announcing a wave of new investments in our Armed Forces across land, air and sea.'
He said Labour would end the 'disgraceful hollowing out' of the armed forces.
'We will invest in a fighting force that is more integrated, more ready, more lethal than ever — putting Britain back where it belongs as a leader in defence and a leader in Nato.
'We will provide better kit for our warriors when they are fighting abroad — so that they can use the full range of conventional and technological capabilities.'
Defence Secretary John Healey said the Government would embrace the recommendations in the review and make defence an 'engine for economic growth'.
It will urge the the Ministry of Defence to lay the industrial foundations to boost weapons stockpiles to meet the demand of 'high-tempo' warfare.
More than £1.5 billion in extra funding will go to military homes in response to the review.
The cash will be spent on urgent repairs such as fixing boilers and roofs, and other issues including tackling damp.
'Our forces make extraordinary sacrifices to keep us safe and to serve this country and yet for years, we've forced their families to live in substandard homes,' Mr Healey said on a visit to military accommodation in Cambridgeshire.
The Conservatives criticised the investment in munitions factories as too slow.
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said the Chancellor has used the strategic defence review to put an 'effective freeze' on new orders for military kit.
'It's a bit rich of Labour to talk about 'always on' munitions production when procurement has been largely switched off for the past year,' he said.
He added: 'Of course, we welcome investment in new munitions factories, but we don't know when they will be ready, only that these orders should have been placed months ago.
'Ultimately, we need to see greater ambition for the pace and scale of rearmament our armed forces require, given the threats we face and the need to replace inventory gifted to Ukraine.
'That means 3% of GDP by the end of this parliament, and Labour properly prioritising defence spending – instead of seeking to outspend Reform on welfare.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BreakingNews.ie
18 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Marks & Spencer boss's pay deal surges to €8.4 million
The boss of Marks and Spencer has seen his pay package soar to £7.1 million (€8.4 million), as he leads the retailer through the disruption of a damaging cyber attack. Stuart Machin, chief executive of the high street giant since 2022, received the bumper pay deal after a sharp rise in performance-linked bonuses. Advertisement The company's latest annual report revealed that Mr Machin saw his total pay deal, including bonuses and benefits, rise by 39 per cent to £7.1 million (€8.4 million) for the year to March 2025. The retailer has been affected by the fallout of a cyber attack over the past two months (Yui Mok/PA) His pay package included £4.6 million (€5.5 million) of long-term performance-based bonuses, which he cannot access for at least two more years, as well as a £1.6 million (€1.9 million) bonus linked to M&S's performance over the year. He also received around £894,000 (€1.06 million) of fixed pay and pensions benefit for the year. Bosses confirmed in the report that Mr Machin's fixed salary will increase by two per cent for the new financial year. Advertisement He received the higher pay deal after leading the company through a major turnaround strategy which has seen M&S return its clothing and home sales to growth and boost profitability. In April, shares in the company rose to their highest level for almost nine years due to improving trading. However, the retailer – which runs 565 stores across the UK – has faced heavy disruption since the Easter weekend after being struck by a major cyber attack. M&S halted orders on its website and saw empty shelves after being targeted by hackers. Advertisement Customer personal data, which could have included names, email addresses, postal addresses and dates of birth, was also taken by hackers in the attack. M&S is still unable to process any online orders, although it is understood the retailer is hoping to partly restore this within two to three weeks. Mr Machin told reporters that hackers gained access to the company's IT systems through a third party after 'human error'. In the annual report, M&S chairman Archie Norman said the significant impact of the hack – which is expected to cost the firm around £300 million (€356 million) – is likely to 'endure for some weeks, or even months'. Advertisement He added: 'I am confident that in a year's time the cyber incident will prove to have been a bump in the road along the path to growth, even if it does not feel like that today. 'However, coming on top of a very strong trading year it has stretched the sinews of the management team and we have seen an extraordinary response from our colleagues in the support centre, in our logistics centres and particularly in our stores.' An M&S spokeswoman said: 'CEO pay is decided by the board and reflects performance against stretching pre-set targets. 'Almost 90 per cent of Stuart's pay is linked to performance of the business and the share price – therefore his total pay for full-year 2025 reflects the strong performance and growth of M&S under his leadership over the last three years. Advertisement 'Over 75 per cent of Stuart's pay is made up of long-term and deferred share awards, subject to waiting periods and tied to future share price performance. 'This year, our strong performance meant we could make our biggest ever investment in store colleague pay. 'Additionally, over 5,000 colleagues, including store managers, received a bonus. We also returned more value to shareholders with an increased dividend payment.'
South Wales Argus
18 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Record £14 billion cash Isa injection made by savers in April
An additional £14.0 billion was deposited into cash Isas in April – the highest amount since records started in April 1999. Commenting on the report, finance experts suggested that speculation over the future of cash Isas, attractive rates, and the tax efficiencies of the accounts prompted savers to pile their money into Isas. The new tax year starts on April 6 each year, and the period around it is known as 'Isa season' as providers try to attract customers with enticing rates. In total, households' deposits with banks and building societies increased by £3.0 billion in April, following net deposits of £7.3 billion in March – with Isa deposits being offset by other account withdrawals. Mark Hicks, head of active savings, Hargreaves Lansdown said: 'Cash Isas dominated the savings market, attracting an eye-watering £14 billion – the highest on record. 'Higher rates and rumbling discussions about the future of the cash Isa pushed tax saving to the top of the to-do list.' He added: 'The level of withdrawals from easy access savings seems to indicate a significant proportion of Isa savings has come from people withdrawing from savings and ploughing the money into their Isa equivalents at either end of the tax year, to take advantage of the tax saving. 'As competition heated up over tax year end, rates remained elevated, but they have fallen since.' Alice Haine, personal finance analyst at Bestinvest by Evelyn Partners, said: 'While uncertainty in the domestic and global economy may have motivated consumers to top up their savings, some may have been taking advantage of higher savings rates while they were still around.' She continued: 'Worsening real returns on cash savings, once inflation is factored in, will come as a blow for savers, though with increasing numbers of taxpayers being dragged deeper into the tax net as their wages increase – a result of frozen personal tax thresholds – it is the post-tax net return on that cash that delivers the biggest hit.' Ms Haine said that the personal savings allowance – the amount of tax-free savings that savers can earn – has remained static 'raising the likelihood that those with the best savings rates use up their allowance in full and pay tax on the interest they earn'. Speculation over any possible future changes to cash Isa limits may also have been a factor, she added. Ms Haine said: 'While Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed the £20,000 (annual) Isa allowance will remain intact, speculation that she will cap the amount savers can subscribe to a cash Isa is rife, as it feeds into her wider mission to encourage more people to invest their money and contribute to the Government's growth mission.' Meanwhile, the number of mortgage approvals being made to home buyers fell for the fourth month in a row in April. Around 60,500 loans for house purchase got the green light in April, which was a fall of 3,100 compared with the previous month. Stamp duty discounts became less generous for some home buyers from the start of April. Stamp duty applies in England and Northern Ireland. The Bank also said that approvals for remortgaging (which only capture remortgaging with a different lender) increased by 1,600 to 35,300 in April, following an increase of 1,000 in March. Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said: 'A slowdown in demand for mortgages in April reflects the impact of a late Easter. 'We expect mortgage data for May to increase in line with a pick up in new sales being agreed, which are running at their highest level for four years. 'A key factor is also lenders relaxing affordability tests, which is delivering the average home buyer up to 20% more borrowing capacity compared to a few months ago. We expect a busy June as buyers look to secure sales before the summer holidays kick in.' Figures released by Nationwide Building Society on Monday showed property values increased by 0.5% month-on-month in May, following a 0.6% fall in April, taking the average UK house price to £273,427. The typical UK house price increased by 3.5% annually in May, compared with 3.4% in April, according to Nationwide's figures. Banking and finance industry body UK Finance also said on Monday that mortgage completions rose sharply in the first three months of 2025 as both first-time buyers and home movers sought to complete transactions to benefit from lower stamp duty rates before changes took effect on April 1. For the quarter as a whole, first-time buyer completions jumped by 62% year-on-year and home mover completions increased by 74%, UK Finance said. The UK Finance report said: 'There were notable peaks in March, with the number of first-time buyer and home mover completions increasing by 113% and 140% respectively compared with March 2024.' Data from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) last week indicated there were 64,680 house sales in April – 64% lower than the total for March – as buyers had rushed to beat the stamp duty deadline. The Bank of England's Money and Credit report also said that, looking at non-mortgage borrowing, the annual growth rate for consumer credit accelerated to reach 6.7% in April, from 6.2% in March. Within the total, the annual growth rate for credit card borrowing increased to 9.8% in April, from 8.5% in March.
South Wales Guardian
18 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Starmer signals he has duty to stop Channel crossings following record weekend
Some 1,194 migrants arrived in 18 boats on Saturday, according to Home Office data. It was the first time daily crossings topped a thousand in 2025, and prompted Defence Secretary John Healey to claim Britain had 'lost control' of its borders over the last five years. As he made a major defence speech in Glasgow on Monday, the Prime Minister was asked if the Government was failing to keep the UK safe in the English Channel. He told journalists: 'In relation to border security, I want to be really clear: nobody should be making that journey across the Channel and it's our duty to make sure that we ensure that they don't. 'We are working very closely with our counterparts in France and elsewhere to take further action in northern France, and of course, we are giving enhanced powers to our own law enforcement through the Borders Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.' Speaking about the previous Government's Rwanda plan, Sir Keir insisted it 'didn't deter anybody', after his decision to scrap it was highlighted. He added: 'I'm not up for gimmicks. I'm up for the hard work of working with partners, enhancing the powers that law enforcement have, in my determination to take down the gangs that are running this vile trade.' Saturday's crossings brought the provisional annual total so far of migrants who have made the journey to 14,811. This is 42% higher than the same point last year (10,448) and 95% up from the same point in 2023 (7,610), according to PA news agency analysis of the data. It is still lower than the highest daily total of 1,305 arrivals since data began in 2018, which was recorded on September 3 2022. On Sunday, Mr Healey said the scenes of migrants being picked up by smugglers 'like a taxi' to be brought to the UK were 'shocking'. Britain has 'lost control of its borders over the last five years,' he added. The Defence Secretary said it is a 'really big problem' that French police are unable to intervene to intercept boats in shallow waters. French police officers were seen watching as migrants, including children, boarded at a beach in Gravelines, between Calais and Dunkirk, and authorities were then pictured escorting the boats. Some 184 people were rescued, the French authorities said. The UK agreed a £480 million deal with France to beef up its efforts to stop migrants in 2023 under former prime minister Rishi Sunak. It was the latest in a series of agreements with France since 2014 aimed at cracking down on crossings. This year is on course to set a record for Channel crossings, with the 14,811 total arrivals so far the highest recorded for the first five months of a year. It has also surpassed the highest total recorded for the first six months of the year, which was previously 13,489 on June 30 last year. In 2024, the number of arrivals did not reach more than 14,000 until July 9 (14,058). Sir Keir Starmer's Government has pledged to 'smash the gangs' behind people-smuggling operations to bring down crossings.
