Lord Cameron urges Nato spending increase amid non-existent UK defence plan

David Cameron today urged other Nato countries to increase their defence spending on the same day that an exclusive Sky report claimed the British government has no military plan in place should the country come under attack.

A Sky News investigation, led by defence editor Deborah Haynes, revealed that Whitehall has no national military defence plan or proposals for the mobilisation of its people or industry in the event of an external attack despite rising geo-political tensions. The claims are all the more astonishing because back in January the defence secretary, Grant Shapps, admitted that the UK is moving to a “pre-war world” amid mounting concerns about Russia, China and Iran. Sky’s claims were denied by a Cabinet Office spokesman who said the UK has “robust plans in place for a range of potential emergencies and scenarios with plans and supporting arrangements developed, refined and tested over many years”.

The revelation of Britain’s woeful lack of defence readiness comes as the foreign secretary called on fellow Nato members to increase defence spending to at least two per cent of each country’s GDP. 

At a meeting with foreign ministers at Nato’s Brussels headquarters, Lord Cameron said: “Seventy-five years after its creation, we are celebrating a Nato that has never been stronger or more important, especially following Sweden’s accession last month. With Ukraine closer to Nato than ever, we must sustain the critical support Ukraine needs to win the war. Allies need to step up and spend more on defence in the face of continued Russian aggression and a more dangerous world.” 

Yet proposals put by Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg for long-term aid for Ukraine via a 100 billion euro ($107 billion) five-year fund failed to take shape. In an effort to “Trump-proof” aid ahead of the US elections because of fears that Donald Trump and the Republicans are taking a more isolationist stance on foreign policy, Stoltenberg told reporters: “Today we didn’t take any final decisions on what format we will establish, but we agreed to initiate planning.”

Ukrainian war fatigue is becoming increasingly hard to ignore for Western leaders. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today also announced that Russia plans to mobilise an additional 300,000 troops by June. Another worrying statistic to emerge today was that Russian forces have captured an estimated 400sq km of Ukrainian territory so far this year. 

Zelensky also said that Russia had hit Ukraine with more than 4,000 bombs in March alone: “Just this March, Russian terrorists have deployed over 400 missiles of various types, over 600 Shahed drones, and over 3,000 guided air bombs against Ukraine.”

What’s more, an anonymous Ukrainian military official told Politico that Western-donated F-16 fighter jets are “no longer relevant”. The official said: “Often, we just don’t get the weapons systems at the time we need them – they come when they’re no longer relevant. Every weapon has its own right time. F-16s were needed in 2023; they won’t be right for 2024.”

As hard as life is for Ukraine, it is made harder by the despondency of its allies, Britain being one of the most important. Since December, the FT has reported that Britain’s military had a £17bn black hole in its equipment budget, a Trident test has failed and there was no new defence spending in Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Budget. Just yesterday it was revealed that new drones costing a whopping £1.4bn can’t fly in poor weather. 

Next week, Whitehall is to trial a two-day “war game” including the Ministry of Defence, Cabinet Office, Home Office and other departments to test how government would operate in wartime. 

Some argue that this despondency only makes war more likely. As Keith Dear, a former regular Royal Air Force intelligence officer and former Boris Johnson adviser writes today for Sky: “Such plans are essential not only to avoid scrambling disorder and early defeats, but also so that our adversaries, awed by our preparedness, are deterred from fighting in the first place. The problem is, there is no plan.”

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