Defence Committee
7 July 2026
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Defence Committee House of Commons
00:12 - 01:24
Speaker 3
Order, order. I call to order today's House of Commons Defence Committee session. It's a one-off session on the Defence Investment Plan. It is a pleasure to have in front of us again the lead reviewers for the Strategic Defence Review, namely Lord Robertson, who was the lead reviewer for the Strategic Defence Review, and also wonderful to welcome back General Sir Richard Barrons, also a reviewer of the Strategic Defence Review. Unfortunately, Fiona Hill, the other reviewer, could not join us today, but no doubt we will welcome her in the near future to get her perspective on the DIP.
Gents, we've had a lot of discussion on the Defence Investment Plan over the last few months. I know all of us have been pushing for the publication of that. Unfortunately, it was substantially delayed for several months. So before we get into the nuts and bolts of the DIP itself, what do you think have been the key impacts of the delay of the DIP, and in your view, could some of those have been avoided or managed better? Lord Robertson?
01:24 - 03:28
Speaker 4
I think the delay has caused a degree of confusion inside the Ministry of Defence and considerable disturbance in the industry as well, who had waited for this to take place. But that will be compounded by their disappointment at the actual plan itself when it came out and its inability to project forward the commitment to the three and a half percent that the government has already said is its objective. So industry will undoubtedly have been affected, slowed down, and in fact some companies will have gone bust in the process as they waited for the degree of certainty that was required. In our view, we built the Strategic Defence Review based on an assessment of ten years. That was our assessment at the time for when a peer opponent might challenge the United Kingdom.
That clearly has now been accelerated, and quite simply we're running out of years. And the reality is that the challenge is now bigger, more serious, and earlier than we had anticipated, and yet the Defence Investment Plan itself doesn't come up to it. I would say, however, that what is encouraging is that our Strategic Defence Review remains the model. It remains the outline plan for the future and therefore doesn't need to be revised or redone. It's still there and it's still serious, and it is transformational, and if it's carried out properly, then both industry and people in the Ministry itself will be given heart.
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