LISTEN: Can Britain Defend Itself? - Listen to the latest Daily Mail Deep Dive podcastREAD MORE: Reeves opens door to MORE tax rises to boost defence spendingSee more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy JOSEPH LUKE PALMER Published: 07:00 BST, 11 June 2026 | Updated: 12:57 BST, 11 June 2026
Britain could fund a dramatic modernisation of its armed forces today by reforming a bloated welfare state and ending the 'wastage' of billions on equipment like tanks that our NATO allies in Europe already have in far greater numbers, Defence Editor Mark Nicol has argued.Nicol sat down with Deep Dive podcast host Chris Pleasance to discuss the near year-long delay to Labour's Defence Investment Plan, a document which is supposed to set out how the government will fund and deliver the reforms recommended in last year's Strategic Defence Review.The Strategic Defence Review called on the government to modernise Britain's armed forces from the ground up, investing in advanced military capabilities such as drones and AI, while putting the threat from Russia at the heart of all future defence spending.Such a wholesale upgrade to the nation's military, Nicol said, could cost the Treasury as much as £28 billion at 'an absolute minimum'. Rumours persist that Rachel Reeves has already negotiated that figure down to closer to £13.5 billion.
