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UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to bolster the United Kingdom’s Armed Forces with the launch of a Strategic Defence Review.
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Scheduled to be handed down in the first half of 2025, it will be overseen by Secretary for Defence John Healy and former NATO secretary general Lord Robertson, the BBC reported.
Former US presidential adviser Fiona Hill and former Joint Force commander General Sir Richard Barrons are also expected to help oversee the SDR.
Labour committed to the Strategic Defence Review in their recent election manifesto, pledging to complete the SDR within their first year in government and “set out the path” to 2.5 per cent of GDP spent on defence.
It comes as Labour accused the Conservatives of having “hollowed out our armed forces”, while international tensions have continued to rise.
“Over the last 14 years, geopolitical tensions have risen, while the Conservatives have hollowed out our armed forces. Now Putin is attempting to break European security with his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Labour will meet this challenge by strengthening our armed forces and protecting our national security,” the Labour manifesto read.
“Our commitment to the UK’s nuclear deterrent is absolute. It is a vital safeguard for the UK and our NATO allies.”
The review is expected to also research and examine emerging non-kinetic vectors.
“Alongside greater conventional threats, we are faced with the growing emergence of hybrid warfare, including cyber attacks and misinformation campaigns which seek to subvert our democracy.”
The reports come as incoming Defence Secretary John Healey heaped criticism on the outgoing Conservative government.
Elected to Parliament in 1997, Healey previously worked as a journalist and union activist.
Speaking to members of the Armed Forces and public sector staff at the Ministry of Defence, the incoming Defence Secretary attacked ongoing underfunding of the Armed Forces and called for a strengthening of the UK’s industrial base.
“We know there are serious problems – with our armed forces hollowed out and underfunded for 14 years,” he said.
“And this government now is totally committed to 2.5 per cent of Defence spending, to NATO, to the nuclear deterrent and to support for Ukraine.
“This ministry has new leadership. Our mission is to make Britain secure at home and strong abroad, with the guiding principle of one Defence.
“Because it isn’t just those who serve in uniform who defend this country, it’s those of you who serve in the Civil Service, who work on the production line, who staff the research labs, who develop software – and I want to see Defence at the heart both of the future security of this country, and the future success of this country.”
