Starmer to ready UK for war with billions in defence spending
Sir Keir Starmer is poised to unveil a multi-billion pound package to boost the UK defence industry and armed forces in order to ready the country for war and seal his legacy as Prime Minister, The i Paper understands.
The long-awaited Defence Investment Plan, which was originally scheduled for last autumn but has been held up over Cabinet disagreements about funding, will be published as soon as next week, it is understood.
The plan is expected to be backed by £18bn of government funding for new contracts with defence companies to boost the UK’s weapons capabilities and better equip the country for conflict in response to a decrease in global security.
How Putin plans to target the UK by disrupting our daily lives
Why Aston Martins were ‘banned from new 007 books’
Jeffrey Donaldson ‘sexual offences’ trial – what we know so far
How Putin plans to target UK by disrupting our daily lives
Lecturer in Russian security affairs
The Russian President’s “death by a thousand paper cuts” strategy of sabotage and harassment within the UK and Europe is continuing apace.GCHQ warned this week that Russia is “relentlessly” targeting Britain’s critical infrastructure as part of its hybrid operations. Moscow’s ultimate goal is to undermine Europe’s collective unity and support for Ukraine.
What you need to know
The jamming of the GPS signal of Defence Secretary RAF jet last weekend is an example of the Kremlin’s weaponisation of “nuisance” and its corrosive effect on Western resolve.
While no single incident causes serious problems, Moscow is nonetheless waging a widening campaign of disruption, sabotage and irritation against Europe.
Methods range from efforts to force airliners to divert, arson attacks and deniable cyber assaults aimed at targets from online retailers to mobile phone providers or streaming providers.
‘An accumulation of small-scale irritants designed to sow division’
Moscow’s hope is to impose a heavy cost on daily life: a commute disrupted by sabotage, streaming halted by a cyber attack or the paralysis of an online bank. By doing so, it wants to persuade populations that systems are broken and money should be spent at home rather than abroad – particularly when it comes to defending Ukraine. It may sound implausible, but it is not impossible.
How Putin plans to target the UK by disrupting our daily lives
Putin’s cruise missiles are operating 30 miles off the UK. And Russia won’t move them
Why Aston Martins were ‘banned from new 007 books’
An author has said that James Bond creator Ian Fleming’s estate banned him from featuring Aston Martin cars in a new series of continuation novels to avoid “treading on the toes” of the 007 film franchise.Vaseem Khan, who is writing spin-off books based on Q, said he had wanted to include the iconic motoring brand but was told the cars can only feature in Bond movies. The fictional spy has more often than not been depicted on celluloid at the wheel of an Aston Martin DB5.
What you need to know
Ever since his creation by Ian Fleming, James Bond has had a penchant for high-end cars. In the Fleming novels, he drives various Bentleys, but the film franchise has long had the spy driving an Aston Martin.
Speaking at the Hay Festival, Khan said he had been asked by the Fleming estate to choose another brand and speculated that it was because it “did not want to tread on the toes of the film production”.
The author said the instruction had come at a particularly sensitive time when negotiations were still underway to sell the 007 franchise to Amazon.
Driving licence to kill: Bond’s shifting motoring habits
No Bond film is complete without a breathtaking car chase in which the MI6 super-agent shakes off the attentions of a pack of chasing villains. Over the years, 007 has done so in a range of vehicles.
While the classic Aston DB5 will always be the Bond favourite, he has driven a submersible Lotus Esprit S1 (The Spy Who Loved Me), a Mustang Mach 1 (Diamonds Are Forever), a Jaguar C-X75 (Spectre) and, memorably, a Citroen 2CV (For Your Eyes Only).
Jeffrey Donaldson trial – what we know so far
The trial of former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has been played a police interview with one of his two alleged victims, recorded prior to his arrest. In the interview, the woman relates incidents of alleged abuse by Donaldson and said she was left “feeling dirty for a long time”. The ex-MP denies 18 offences relating to alleged historical sexual abuse.
What you need to know
A jury at Newry Crown Court, Co. Down, is hearing the case against Donaldson. He is accused of rape and several counts of gross indecency as well as indecent assault between 1985 and 2008 against two victims.
In the video interview, one of the complainants said she had been of primary school age when Donaldson, 63, began to be “physical” with her.
Donaldson’s wife, Lady Eleanor, denies charges of aiding and abetting her husband. She is facing a trial of facts after a ruling that she is unfit to face trial on mental health grounds.
What the alleged victim said
In the interview, the alleged victim said she recalled waking at night as a child with a sexual feeling. She told officers she later started to have nightmares about “adult men doing horrible things to children”.
The court heard that on one occasion Donaldson had kissed her and put his tongue in her mouth. She said this and other incidents were “very much laughed off as a joke”. When asked about her memories of waking up in the night, she added: “It feels black, there is darkness around it, it is black in my head.” The trial continues.
What else happened in court?
The first witness in the trial, known as Complainant A, was asked questions by prosecuting barrister Rosemary Walsh KC.Ms Walsh read out a letter which Complainant A said had been written to her by Jeffrey Donaldson in June 2020. In the letter, Donaldson expressed “how much I truly regret all the hurt, pain and distress I have caused”. The letter said he took “full responsibility for it all” and had sought help from God.
The five new revelations about Epstein's sex-trafficking crimes in UK
Prince Harry sued for defamation by Sentebale charity, court record shows
While the blueprint has been stuck in Whitehall for months, insiders said the Prime Minister now wants to push ahead with difficult decisions ahead of any leadership battle with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and former health secretary Wes Streeting, which could come within weeks.
Starmer is intent on getting things out of the door because “he doesn’t feel like he has anything to lose” and he “wants to have a legacy”, a source said.
The Defence Investment Plan will fund the recommendations of the Strategic Defence Review, which was published a year ago next week, including an upgrade to the RAF Typhoon fighter jet capability and the purchase of new F-35A fighter jets equipped with nuclear weapons.
The Times reported earlier this month that Starmer had been presented with two options for the funding package: £12bn and £18bn.
Defence Secretary John Healey and National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell have been pushing for the higher figure, but Chancellor Rachel Reeves has resisted this.
And The i Paper understands that Starmer has been set on building a lasting legacy ever since the leadership crisis triggered by more than 100 Labour MPs calling for him to quit and the resignations of Streeting as health secretary and several other ministers.
If, as is likely, Starmer approves the £18bn increase in defence spending, which would be spread over the next four years, it would push the UK’s funding of defence closer to 3 per cent of GDP by the end of this Parliament, ahead of the schedule originally set out by the Prime Minister last year. In 2025, Starmer had pledged to reach 2.5 per cent from April 2027 and 3 per cent during the next Parliament.
But since then, the international outlook has changed dramatically, with increasing demands from Donald Trump for European Nato allies to spend more on defence, Russia stepping up its hybrid war activity, including through its shadow fleet in the waters around the UK, and the conflict in Iran.
While Starmer’s critics on the Labour benches have accused the Prime Minister of acting too slowly on the domestic agenda, he can stake a claim to have enhanced the UK’s standing on the international stage.
Under Starmer, the UK has forged a deeper relationship with its European Nato allies in France, Germany and Poland, and resisted pressure from Trump to join the war in Iran.
If he is still Prime Minister by July, Starmer is also set to meet Trump at the Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey. The publication of the Defence Investment Plan will help rebuild bridges with the US President after the falling out over the Iran conflict.
Whatever happens to his premiership in the wake of the Makerfield by-election on 18 June, which Burnham is tipped to win, the publication of the Defence Investment Plan next week would allow Starmer to carve out a legacy on national and international security.
However, defence firms and opposition parties have complained that the delay to publication, from its original expected date of last autumn, has caused more uncertainty to the UK defence industry and armed forces at a time when other countries are spending more on building up their armaments.