The Labour government has criticised the Conservatives’ record on defence procurement, accusing the former administration of leaving major defence projects in disarray.
A newly published Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) report revealed that during the Conservatives’ final year in office, only two out of 49 major defence projects – just 4% – were delivered on time and within budget. The report also highlighted a significant increase in the number of red-rated projects, rising from five to eight, a 60% increase.
Red-rated projects are defined as those facing “major issues with project definition, schedule, budget, quality…which at this stage do not appear to be manageable or resolvable.” The 2023-24 list saw 16% of defence projects red-rated under the Conservatives, compared to 10% in the previous year.
Labour has also highlighted findings from the National Audit Office, which revealed a £17 billion black hole in the Ministry of Defence’s equipment plan during the Tory administration. Similarly, a Defence Committee inquiry from the same period described the procurement system as “highly bureaucratic, overly stratified, far too ponderous, with an inconsistent approach to safety.”
In response, Labour has launched what it calls the biggest defence reform programme in 50 years, led by Defence Secretary John Healey. The programme aims to streamline procurement processes, deliver better value for money, and ensure timely and effective outcomes for the Armed Forces.
A Labour spokesperson stated: “This report lays bare how 14 years of Tory mismanagement left major defence programmes in disarray. The Tories hollowed out our Armed Forces, wasted billions and bungled vital projects. Their credibility on defence is shot to bits.
“This Labour Government is working night and day to fix the broken procurement system we inherited, reform defence and get a grip on Tory delays and overspends.
“We will leave no stone unturned to expose Tory failures, get value for money for taxpayers and fix the foundations of Britain’s defence.”
The Labour government insists its reforms will address deep-rooted issues in defence procurement, ensuring the Armed Forces are better equipped to face current and future challenges effectively.
Not as bad as the 38bn black hole in defence the Coalition Gov inherited back in 2010. Both major parties have been as bad as each other on defence since the end of the Cold War.
Exactly.
From an incoming party of government whose election manifesto made no mention of ordering so much as one extra ship, aircraft or armoured vehicle – that’s all it would have took to have been taken seriously as a government committed to national defence.
And given that their first notable act while in power concerning Defence has been to remove (and likely sell) the 2 RN Assault Ships, their argument that the previous 14 years has been one of decline rings pretty hollow as they relentlessly increase the pace of that decline
“And given that their first notable act while in power concerning Defence has been to remove (and likely sell) the 2 RN Assault Ships, their argument that the previous 14 years has been one of decline rings pretty hollow as they relentlessly increase the pace of that decline”
The 2 ships that were already laid up and hadnt been to sea since 2023 and 2017?
HMS Bulwark could’ve gone back to sea, they chose to scrap it instead
Fair enough can’t really disagree with that assessment as a stand alone statement. But IMHO in a wider context it should look like this :-
6.5 years of “Cold war is over, din’t call me Maggie, I’ll spend nothing and let’s all watch cricket and then have a nice Curry” JM
10 years of “I look nice on TV, don’t call me a Socialist, I’ll suck up to George, degrade the Military and get a lot of folks killed building Sandcastles”. AB
3 years of “I need to ensure a legacy, so strip out / cancel everything, I need to build 2 Aircraft Carriers right next door to my constituency, then retire.” GB
6 years of “call me Dave, I don’t like sandy places, defence is waste of money so cancel everything, I can then give lots of money to other countries to spend on trying to kill each other”. DC
3 years of “I’m really quite nice and need defending, Putin is fine but if the Armed forces can’t deal with my Back Benchers why bother”. TM
3 years of “Booze, lies, Blonds, spend Money on Useless PPE, blame everyone else, sulk and oh what’s this defence thingy about ?” BJ (snigger time).
50 Days of “🤷🏼♂️🤨😡🥾”. LT
1.5 years of “I actually have a good Defence Secretary so let him do what he can, but don’t spend much. Oh he resigned, so I’ll appoint 🤦🏼♂️ 🤹🏼) RS
195 days of “How long can I stall doing anything, blame the previous lot, 🤞🏻 I can get away with it. Oh Poo Mr Tango is back) KS (TBC).
I think that’s a bit more comprehensive.
Sums it perfectly…
‘up perfectly’….
“ 3 years of “Booze, lies, Blonds, spend Money on Useless PPE, blame everyone else, sulk and oh what’s this defence thingy about ?” BJ (snigger time).”
Buuuuuut BJ did order T26 and IRL B2 was green light on his watch, T31 and he invented T32 all by himself!
BJ did also manage to get support together for UKR and displayed something that looked, at least from a distance, a lot like leadership.
He did also give defence a £16Bn uplift but Sunak didn’t roll on with that.
Where he went wrong was not other a siren suit, boxes of very large cigars and a pith helmet….or something like that 🙂
The only thing I would add to that is the geopolitical context and risk profile.
6.5 years of “🎼we won the war, we won the war🎼 the west is great and everyone wants to be the west as it’s just so very good”
13 years of ignore the wars we are fighting they are not real wars as “we won the war we won the war” the west is great and everyone wants to be the west as it’s just so very good.
6 years of…we really know everyone hates the west and is building up …but we need to save money and so let’s just keep pretending “we won the war we won the war, the west is great and everyone wants to be the west as it’s just so very good”
3 years of…shite do we tell everyone there is a new Cold War and a load of mad authoritarian dictators that hate us…Nope Brexit Brexit Brexit and remember “we won the war we won the war” the west is great and everyone wants to be the west as it’s just so very good.
3 years of…Yes the worlds going to shit but well we still need to get it done…not sure what, but it needs doing….let’s sort of remind people that there are some rum lads out there even though “we won the war we won the war” the west is great and everyone wants to be the west as it’s just so very good.
1.5 year of…Ohh my Fucking god we are heading for a world war and what navy, army and airforce was that against ???.what do we do….ummm quick tell everyone it’s all fine and “we won the war we won the war” the west is great and everyone wants to be the west as it’s just so very good.
6 months….what do you mean china has just finished building its invasion harbours….ummm quick do a defence review…
The only thing I would add to that is the geopolitical context and risk profile.
6.5 years of “🎼we won the war, we won the war🎼 the west is great and everyone wants to be the west as it’s just so very good”
13 years of ignore the wars we are fighting they are not real wars as “we won the war we won the war” the west is great and everyone wants to be the west as it’s just so very good.
6 years of…we really know everyone hates the west and is building up …but we need to save money and so let’s just keep pretending “we won the war we won the war, the west is great and everyone wants to be the west as it’s just so very good”
3 years of…shite do we tell everyone there is a new Cold War and a load of mad authoritarian dictators that hate us…Nope Brexit Brexit Brexit and remember “we won the war we won the war” the west is great and everyone wants to be the west as it’s just so very good.
3 years of…Yes the worlds going to shit but well we still need to get it done…not sure what, but it needs doing….let’s sort of remind people that there are some rum lads out there even though “we won the war we won the war” the west is great and everyone wants to be the west as it’s just so very good.
1.5 year of…Ohh my Fucking god we are heading for a world war and what navy, army and airforce was that against ???.what do we do….ummm quick tell everyone it’s all fine and “we won the war we won the war” the west is great and everyone wants to be the west as it’s just so very good.
6 months….what do you mean china has just finished building its invasion harbours….ummm quick do a defence review…
Sums up thirty plus years of irresponsible foolishness…
Cheers CR
Good Day,
All very sad once again! However let’s move on and look to the future. Perhaps an agreed joint Defence budget between the major parties to ensure solid planning for all involved?
Let’s hope the Defence review offers a positive way forward!
Both major parties have responsibility of the mess we are in.
Nick
They are all utter shite..now can we just reset back to 1997/8 expend on the new threat level above 1997/8 and build an army, navy and airforce to that risk as 1997 as a baseline.
I cannot believe the new crowd can do worse than the last lot. Suspect that meaningful change will only come about if the MoD can find a way of spending more efficiently. Suspect the Defence Review will be painful.
Government blasts Tories…so Labour defence cuts coming soon.
Labour government 🙄 don’t know how they can come out with this statement when there cutting 2 Assault ships and RFA Vessels etc .Not that Tory were any good honestly God help us 😕
Yes god help us! Despite the clear evidence we should drastically rearm nothing seems to happen! What is going on?
Nick