Starmer’s parting gift of billions for the military is a chain around Burnham's neck

Starmer’s parting gift of billions for the military is a chain around Burnham's neck Submitted by Tom Blackburn on Thu, 07/09/2026 - 14:29 After a sustained media campaign by military hawks, this proposed increase in defence expenditure is being shielded from effective scrutiny US President Donald Trump stands next to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as NATO leaders gather for a family photo at a NATO leaders' summit in Ankara, Turkey on 8 July, 2026 (Reuters) On British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Defence Investment Plan ( DIP ), although presented as an urgent response to unprecedented security threats facing Britain , says more about the imperatives of domestic politics than about national security needs. These big military spending announcements have always, to a large extent, been calculated to suit domestic political prerogatives rather than actual defence, but the DIP is explicitly the product of political manoeuvring. The plan, unveiled with much fanfare on 30 June after intense lobbying and weeks of concerted propaganda conducted through the media, proposes throwing another £15bn ($20bn) into the gaping maw of the Ministry of Defence (MoD); this is below the £28bn (approximately $37bn) it had sought, but however much the MoD receives at the expense of other government departments, it never seems to be enough.