See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy DAVID WILCOCK, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR and JASON GROVES, POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 09:16 BST, 8 June 2026 | Updated: 09:39 BST, 8 June 2026
Labour's blueprint for boosting the UK's depleted armed forces with billions of pounds of new funding is mired in chaos as ministers fight over how much to spend.Downing Street had hoped to publish the Defence Investment Plan this week, amid dire warnings about Britain's ability to defend itself from Russia and other foes.But the DIP, which is already months late, is still being haggled over as ministers fight to protect funding for their departments. One insider described the talks on the Defence Investment Plan as 'chaos' amid signs it could still take weeks to appear.Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to produce the plan, first ordered more than a year ago, before a Nato summit in early July. Defence sources told the Daily Mail that at the end of the process the Ministry of Defence could be left with barely £2billion a year extra – substantially less than Labour spent on removing the two-child benefit cap.Ex-military leaders and defence contractors have warned the ongoing delay is making the UK look weak internationally and threatening jobs domestically. Whitehall wrangling continued last night even as Sir Keir hosted Volodymyr Zelensky, Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz for a Downing Street summit on the Ukraine war. Whitehall wrangling continued last night even as Sir Keir hosted Volodymyr Zelensky, Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz for a Downing Street summit on the Ukraine war.
