SIR Keir Starmer yesterday vowed to turn Britain into a “battle-ready, armour-clad nation”; — but could not say how he will pay for it.
The PM refused to give a firm date for hitting his flagship three per cent defence spending target — triggering warnings that his big plans risk falling apart.
His includes a pledge to build 12 attack subs, six new munitions factories, creating around 1,000 jobs, and a £15billion boost for the warhead programme.
also aim to make the military ten times more lethal by 2035 — to deal with threats such as ’s .
Sir Keir said in Glasgow: “, more immediate and more unpredictable than at any time since the Cold War. The front line, if you like, is here.”;
He said the plan would create “a battle-ready, armour-clad nation with the strongest alliances, and the most advanced capabilities, equipped for the decades to come”;.
But the — an increase on 2.5 per cent from 2027 — sparked backlash.
Ex-Army chief Lord Dannatt told Times Radio: “It’s a bit like saying in 1938 to Adolf Hitler, ‘Please don’t attack us until 1946 because we are not going to be ready’.”;
He added: “This rather vague commitment to move to three per cent by the end of the next , 2034, just doesn’t stack up.”;
Sir Keir claimed he was “100 per cent confident”; the plan would be delivered, but admitted the three per cent figure was an “ambition”;, not a commitment.
Top brass and economists warned hefty taxes may be the only way to fund the plans.
