Defence Readiness

Stuart Anderson Excerpts

Wednesday 20th May 2026 Commons Chamber

[Stuart Anderson (South Shropshire) (Con)]

It is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for Leeds South West and Morley (Mark Sewards), who clearly understands the topic. He spoke passionately and gave a great speech.

I want to turn the attention of the House to the following countries: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Norway, the US, Denmark, Greece, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands. What do all those countries have in common? Well, last year they all funded their defence with a higher percentage of their GDP than the UK did. To put that in perspective, only two NATO countries spent more on defence than we did in 2021—so there has been a significant change.

I ask myself, “What do those countries know that we do not?” I am fortunate to be a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. I have spoken with representatives—Ministers and other parliamentarians —from every one of those countries, and they realise that the world is changing. We face probably the most volatile geopolitical situation in over 80 years; as I have continually said, I do not believe that the world is going to go back to how it was and how we have seen it within our lifetime.

Those countries understand that the world is rearming. They look at the threats they face from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, which are trying to break down democracy and destabilise the world—and we just heard a great speech from the hon. Member for Leeds South West and Morley about the impact this situation is having on the streets of the UK. So what do those countries see in the UK? Many believe that we are leaving the room—that we are not standing up on the international stage anywhere near as much as we did. I will back that comment up.

One of my proudest moments on the cross-party NATO Parliamentary Assembly was in 2022 in the Latvian Parliament. The Defence Minister there said to the UK and the US, “Hold your head up high. You have led the world in this—you have funded and you have led—and we need to follow.” That was a really proud moment. I have fed this information directly to the Secretary of State, but in the same cross-party forum last month, a NATO Defence Minister—I will not say which country he was from—said, “With all due respect, the UK are not leading; they are not even in the room, and they are not funding as they were.” I could not disagree with him. That was one of my saddest days at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

We need this investment in defence. We need to clearly chart a course so we can ensure that we are funding where we need to be. I am saying this out of respect for Defence Ministers; I believe that there is a credible set of Defence Ministers, but the argument is not currently being won. We have dropped in the rankings. The NATO average for defence spending is about 2.76% and we are averaging about 2.4%, give or take. The argument that we have the largest sustained defence funding since the end of the cold war is a bit of a mockery, because we are comparing a peacetime situation to the most unstable geopolitical situation of our time. They are not comparable.

If we look at the facts, we see that in 2019-2020, spending went up by 0.2%, which is similar to the situation now. I called that out at the time. The Defence Committee was united in the last Parliament six and a half years ago, after I got into Parliament, when we said that we needed spending of 3%. That was the cross-party position then. We need to get to that position now. We need our ships funded, we need more troops, and we need drone warfare—we have seen what is happening in Iran. We must expand our technological approach to defence. The shape of defence is changing, and we need to look at this issue really seriously if we are to be able to stand on the world stage.

Our military strength has always been the bedrock, and our global soft power has given us authority and a platform to stand up for British values, but on the world stage at the moment, that authority is waning and our platform is shaking. As we chart our course, we have to have a serious response today—I am not interested in what has happened over 10, 20 or 40 years. As we have heard from hon. Members on all sides of the House, defence funding was significantly higher many years ago. It has been very hard to put that across to the public, but that conversation is getting easier. When they see the impact on fuel prices of what is happening in the middle east, they ask, “Will I be able to fly away on holiday in the summer?” All those equations are coming to the forefront, and people are asking those questions. When I used to speak at dinners or events, every so often, someone would talk about defence. Now, almost every question is, “Can we defend ourselves, and can we rearm?”

I am pleading with the Ministers to win the argument, because I know that every single one of them wants more funding for defence. I am pleading with them to do whatever it takes so that we can rearm and have the armed forces we need, and can stand on the world stage with our head held high.

--- Later in debate ---

[John Healey]

I am really proud to have the Minister for Veterans and People and the Minister for the Armed Forces as part of our Defence team. We play different roles across the Department and they make an extraordinary contribution to the defence of this nation. There are briefings in the Department. Those Ministers play an exceptionally important part in the defence of our country and in the Defence team of this nation, and I am proud that they are part of it. The defence investment plan will be published shortly, as we can settle it within Government. There are critical parts of Defence that feed into the investment plan.

[Stuart Anderson]

If the defence investment plan is the Secretary of State’s priority and the Prime Minister’s priority, is it completed and just waiting for the financial sign-off, or is there a gap in capability to be able to complete it?

[John Healey]

This is a personal priority for the Prime Minister. We are working flat out to complete it, and we will complete and publish it soon. The whole Defence team are making a contribution to its development, and that contribution stretches right across the defence effort.

I say to the shadow Secretary of State: this has not stopped us getting on with the job of government. This has not stopped us letting more than 1,200 major contracts since the election, with nearly nine in 10 going to British-based firms, creating British-based jobs; nearly 70% of those jobs, investments and contracts are beyond London and the south-east. That is defence driving economic growth and lifting parts of the country, right across the UK.

In just the last seven days, we have invested in and announced: over £100 million in the new hybrid Navy to help with our deployment of the multinational mission to the middle east to reopen the strait of Hormuz; a £1 billion contract for new mobile artillery for the Army, with steel made in Sheffield and artillery barrels made in Telford; and rapidly procured weapons for our Typhoons so they can shoot down drones at a lower cost. Just yesterday, I announced 13 contracts of up to £4 million each for small British defence tech firms, all of which have the potential to become Britain’s next defence unicorns.