45 m. ago Rachel Reeves says she ‘chooses investment’ ahead of unveiling Labour’s spending review – UK politics live

Chancellor will reveal how the government plans to spend almost £1.4tn in 2026-27, rising to almost £1.5tr in 2028-29Good morning. The government plans to be spending almost £1.4tr in 2026-27, rising to almost £1.5tr in 2028-29. Those annual limits are already agreed. Today, when Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, stands up at 12.30pm to present the spending review, she will explain how she has decided to divvy up that money between government departments over the next three years.This is not a budget, and she will not be announcing changes to tax policy. But it will feel like a budget because, like a budget, it will involve decisions that affect the public services people rely upon. And it is bound to intensify speculation about whether taxes will have to go up in the next budget, in the autumn.This government is renewing Britain. But I know too many people in too many parts of the country are yet to feel it.This government’s task – my task – and the purpose of this Spending Review – i...

Politics

3 d. ago Britain has escalated the global nuclear arms race – and is bringing us closer to armageddon | Simon Tisdall

The UK’s strategic defence review risks normalising nuclear warfare. Don’t believe the PR hype: these weapons are immoral, irrational and catastrophicPlans by Keir Starmer’s government to modernise and potentially expand Britain’s nuclear weapons arsenal, unveiled in the 2025 strategic defence review (SDR), seriously undermine international non-proliferation efforts. They will fuel a global nuclear arms race led by the US, China and Russia. And they increase the chances that lower-yield, so-called tactical nukes will be deployed and detonated in conflict zones.This dangerous path leads in one direction only: towards the normalisation of nuclear warfare.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

Sport

3 d. ago Russia is already at war with Britain and we can no longer rely on Trump, defence adviser warns

‘Russia is at war with us’, one of the authors of Sir Keir Starmer’s flagship strategic defence review has warned

Events

4 d. ago Russia is at war with Britain and US is no longer a reliable ally, UK adviser says

Government defence expert Fiona Hill warns UK to respond to threats by becoming more cohesive and resilientRussia is at war with Britain, the US is no longer a reliable ally and the UK has to respond by becoming more cohesive and more resilient, according to one of the three authors of the strategic defence review.Fiona Hill, from county Durham, became the White House’s chief Russia adviser during Donald Trump’s first term and contributed to the British government’s strategy. She made the remarks in an interview with the Guardian. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Why is defence such a hard sell? The same reason Starmer is struggling in the polls | Martin Kettle

Decades of failures have left liberal democratic governments unable to command public confidence when it really mattersDefence reviews and foreign policy resets seem to turn up almost as often as the Sussexes’ lifestyle brand relaunches these days. Labour’s strategic defence review this week comes less than two years after the Conservatives’ hardly less detailed defence white paper in July 2023, which in turn was a “refresh” of Boris Johnson’s ambitious integrated review of defence and foreign policy of March 2021. By this measure, it must be doubtful if, come the 2030s, analysts will look back on Keir Starmer and John Healey’s review and say it broke the mould.The Labour government was entitled to try to put its own stamp on defence policy, of course, and its review team of George Robertson, Richard Barrons and Fiona Hill did a good, reasonably independent job. Yet this 2020s pattern of repeated strategic adaptation and refocus feels like the new normal now. It is also true that gr...

Politics

6 d. ago Five ways Putin could bring UK to its knees within hours of World War 3 breaking out

Strategic Defence Review details methods that could be employed by the Kremlin if conflict broke out

Politics

6 d. ago Watch live: Starmer faces Badenoch at PMQs after Reeves vows winter fuel U

Watch live as Sir Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs on Wednesday (4 June), days after unveiling the UK's defence strategy for the next decade.

Politics

7 d. ago ‘We have no plans to attack Britain,' say Russia’s London diplomats as defence review lays out Putin threats

The Strategic Defence Review mentions Russia 33 times and tells of the ‘immediate and pressing threat’ posed by Putin’s regime

Politics

7 d. ago Nato ‘will force Starmer to spend 3.5% of GDP on defence’ to keep Trump happy

PM under pressure from nuclear alliance and US president after row over funding threatened to derail the launch of strategic defence review,

Politics

8 d. ago Defence secretary fails to rule out tax rises to fund defence spending uplift

While John Healey said he is ‘100 per cent confident’ the defence spending uplift would be achieved, he struggled to say how it would be paid for

Economics

8 d. ago Crucial defence review warns Britain's Armed Forces aren't ready to fight a war against a foe with similar capabilities in stark assessment of UK's military prowess

Britain's Armed Forces aren't ready to fight a war against a military with similar capabilities, the authors of Britain's Strategic Defence Review have warned.

Events

8 d. ago New defence plans could lead to ‘significant cuts’ in other areas, MPs warn

John Healey said the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) is ‘not about cuts’, amid concerns the plans will be funded at the expense of existing programmes.

Events

8 d. ago UK issued ominous warning of 'enemies at our door' as PM unveils major defence plan

The Prime Minister said the long-awaited strategic defence review would make the UK 'safer and stronger, a battle-ready, armour-clad nation' amid Russian threats

Events

8 d. ago Strategic defence review live: Starmer reveals largest increase in spending since Cold War as UK faces ‘new era of threat’

John Healey warns ‘new era’ for UK defence needed as ‘threats we face now more serious and less predictable than at any time since end of Cold War’

Events

8 d. ago Strategic Defence Review: The key points of plan to create '10 times more lethal' British Army

Key points at a glance as Prime Minister and Defence Secretary unveil plan to keep Britain safe against rise in foreign threats

Politics

8 d. ago From a ‘more lethal’ army to extra AI – what’s in Starmer’s strategic defence review?

The Independent looks at the outcome of the strategic defence review

Politics

8 d. ago Growing threats, new weapons, more troops: key points of UK’s defence review

The government says the UK must be ready to ‘fight and win’ a full-scale war. Here is a summary of its recommendationsKeir Starmer vows to make Britain ‘battle-ready’ as he unveils defence spending plansA vision of what war between the UK and another state such as Russia would look like is sketched out briefly but starkly on a page of the strategic defence review.Such a conflict could involve attacks on the armed forces in the UK and overseas, air and missile attacks on critical infrastructure, and sabotage and efforts to manipulate information and undermine social cohesion. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Strategic defence review live: Details of Starmer’s military plan revealed as Army to be ‘10 times more lethal’

But prime minister fails to make firm commitment to 3 per cent defence spending target

Events

8 d. ago Defence review plans will make army ‘10 times more lethal’, says John Healey – politics live

Defence secretary says ‘the world is more dangerous’ as he addresses MPs about strategic defence reviewHere is the clip of Keir Starmer in his Today programme interview refusing to say when the government will raise defence spending to 3% of GDP.In an interview with the Times published on Saturday John Healey, the defence secretary, said that he had “no doubt” that Britain would reach the 3% target by 2034 – ie, before the end of the next parliament. Yesterday he described this as an “ambition”. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Strategic defence review live: Starmer pledges to make UK ‘battle

Starmer fails to make firm commitment to 3% defence spending target

Events