When will the UK show it is serious about defence?

Editorial: Instead of sniping across the aisles, both the PM and leader of the opposition should work together on grasping the nettle of essential investment in the country’s armed forces VoicesThe Independent ViewThe Independent ViewWhen will the UK show it is serious about defence?Editorial: Instead of sniping across the aisles, both the PM and leader of the opposition should work together on grasping the nettle of essential investment in the country’s armed forcesWednesday 04 March 2026 18:32 GMTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popoverStarmer hits back at Trump and insists ‘I won’t join Iran war without legal basis’Your support helps us to tell the storyRead moreSupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. 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We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreIt is time the country was shaken out of its complacency.The vulnerability of the UK’s presence in the Gulf and, even more grievously, the safety of RAF Akrotiri in eastern Cyprus has been graphically highlighted by at least one Iranian drone striking the RAF base, probably fired by Hezbollah forces in nearby southern Lebanon. It did no significant damage – but it could have done. Thousands of British citizens, meanwhile, remain stranded and in danger in places such as Dubai, with apparently little that the British government can do to protect or rescue them. Thankfully, the first flights out since the fighting began have now started to land home, but the jeopardy for far too many remains. While Sir Keir Starmer’s general attitude to the conflict has been balanced and rightly cautious, the fighting spreads and the concerns remain – and the PM must act quickly to bring anyone in danger home safely. HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer, and anti-drone helicopters are only now being deployed to the eastern Mediterranean, when they could and should have been sent to the region earlier to augment the defence of British and allied assets more generally, once it became clear tensions were rising to critical levels. When President Trump decided to send not one but two aircraft carrier groups to surround Iran, the risk of war was obvious. Sir Keir pleads that F-35 and Typhoon jets have been sent and that the base has been given enhanced anti-missile defences, and that the Type 45 isn’t well designed for a defensive role, but the wider question remains: why is it that the UK isn’t committing the resources required to meet the national and international commitments it has made?Why are the armed forces perennially inadequate to the demands – from Guyana to Estonia to Bahrain to Taiwan – that successive governments have made of them?HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer, and anti-drone helicopters are being deployed to the eastern Mediterranean (Reuters)At Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch blamed one another for the small and weak state of the UK’s armed forces, which, however much a charade it may be, is their job as practising politicians, but it is a pity that they couldn’t bring themselves to say they’d work together to remedy the situation.It extends far beyond the lack of personnel and equipment, to shortcomings in cyber defence and countering enemy espionage. The latest revelations about British citizens allegedly acting as agents for the Chinese state are just another embarrassment; no one thinks they’ll be the last. Ms Badenoch says that the government is actually cutting defence spending, and not doing enough even to reach the target of 3 per cent of national income devoted to the armed forces by 2030. Sir Keir counters that the government has given the defence budget its biggest boost since the end of the Cold War, and that the Conservatives cut defence spending and missed all their targets for army recruitment. Perhaps both are right. It is the fact that neither will accept the criticism, which makes it harder to forge a national sense of purpose. In any case, the history of defence cuts under all the main parties since the end of the Cold War some four decades ago should be a debate for historians, because wars that threaten British interests and sovereignty, in Ukraine as well as in Iran, are already upon us. What is to be done? The immediate task is to take British and other nationals to places of safety, and to secure, as far as possible, UK assets and those of allies – civilia