A Labour MP has written to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury urging the government to take a leading role in establishing the Defence and Security Resilience Bank, warning that the UK risks being sidelined in the creation of a major new multilateral financial institution with profound implications for allied defence capabilities.
Will Stone, MP for Swindon North and an armed forces parliamentary champion, wrote to Darren Jones MP on 29 April arguing that the UK’s current approach risked “causing lasting damage to the UK’s strategic interests, its international relationships, and in particular, our relationship with Canada, and its ability to shape a major new multilateral financial institution that will have profound implications for allied defence capabilities.”
The DSRB, Stone wrote, had “significant international momentum”, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney having made launching it a central mission of his government since his election in March 2025, personally raising the matter with the UK Prime Minister on two separate occasions in February and March 2026. The bank had been endorsed by all of Canada’s major banks as well as JP Morgan, ING, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank.
Stone said he was “concerned that the UK does not currently have a firm or coherent position on the DSRB despite there being clear support for the initiative in other parts of government”, adding that fellow Labour MPs Alex Baker, Luke Charters and Calvin Bailey all shared his view that the UK should take a leading role.
A central concern in the letter is the Treasury’s framing of the Multilateral Defence Mechanism, announced in March 2026 alongside Finland and the Netherlands, as an alternative to the DSRB. Stone argued strongly against this, saying the MDM appeared to be “a joint procurement and financing initiative focused on stockpiling capabilities held off the national balance sheet” making its scope “inherently limited, given both the nations involved and the practical constraints around what can be stockpiled.”
The MDM and DSRB were not in competition as they addressed different needs, Stone argued, and by treating them as mutually exclusive “the UK could be seen as positioning itself as a passenger rather than a driver in the establishment of a major new institution.” He warned there was “a concern that we are being too dismissive and risking our relationship with Canada” and said the UK was missing out on the opportunity for the bank to be headquartered in Britain.
Stone called on Jones to “revisit your position on the DSRB and to cease framing the MDM as an either/or alternative” and to consider sending a senior government representative to future DSRB negotiations to engage with Canada and other partners on the design and establishment of the bank.
The UK doesn’t seem to have a decent position on anything much to do with defence.
Canada would I’m sure like the UK to commit to it’s own defence first and I’m sure that the treasury could come up with positive spin on the Bank idea our problem is the vast majority of politicians who seem to have power at the moment don’t have much imagination.
Defence is not a top priority for MP’s.
All you will get from politicians is warm words with very little in the way of action.
We currently have no money, very few credible ideas and a politically divided UK.
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Labour MPs urge off book borrowing. That worked out so well with PFI, the last time Labour had that wheeze.
The leadership and culture at the Treasury need a reset. At the moment they think they win and are doing a good job if they successfully defend a spreadsheet. Their key performance targets should also include delivery of projects and services. If they defend a budget but cost a project through instransigence then that should also be seen as a failure with career consequences for all involved.
Labour tank the economy and then there is no money for defence … seems like it’s all deliberate … or just sheer incompetence