Labour could delay building hospitals to fund defence boost

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy DAVID WILCOCK, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR and SOPHIE CHURCH Published: 14:27 BST, 1 July 2026 | Updated: 17:07 BST, 1 July 2026

Downing Street has hinted construction of almost 20 new hospital sites across England could be delayed or scrapped as it seeks ways to pour billions into defence.Sir Keir Starmer faces mounting pressure to explain how he will find an initial £10.3billion of a £15billion boost to improve Britain's Armed Forces and their readiness for war.While some transport savings have already been identified, No10 this afternoon refused to rule out cuts to a major scheme to build and refurbish 40 NHS facilities by 2040.Pressed on whether health service funding would be plundered to pay for new weapons the PM's official spokesman said frontline services would be protected.But he would only commit to protecting funding for 22 sites in the first wave of the New Hospital Programme, plus work on seven facilities found to have been built with dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).A further 18 sites are due to have new facilities built on them in waves two and three, starting from 2032, at a combined cost of more than £31billion.It will raise fears that these projects could be postponed or even scrapped entirely if the money is needed for defence. While some transport savings have already been identified to find Sir Keir's defence plans, No10 this afternoon refused to rule out cuts to a major NHS hospital scheme. No10 would not guarantee future work at 18 sites including Whipps Cross Hospital ion London (pictured), which are due to have new facilities built on them from 2032, at a combined cost of more than £31billion Which hospitals could be affected? There are 18 sites in waves two and three of the New Hospital Programme:Wave Two (Construction due to start between 2032 and 2037)Leeds General InfirmarySpecialist Emergency Care Hospital, SuttonWhipps Cross University Hospital, north-east LondonPrincess Alexandra Hospital, HarlowWatford General HospitalLeicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester General Hospital and Glenfield HospitalKettering General HospitalMusgrove Park Hospital, TauntonTorbay HospitalWave Three (Construction due to start between 2035 and 2039)Charing Cross Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital, LondonNorth Devon District Hospital, BarnstapleRoyal Lancaster InfirmarySt Mary's Hospital, north-west LondonRoyal Preston HospitalQueen's Medical Centre and Nottingham City HospitalRoyal Berkshire Hospital, ReadingHampshire HospitalsEastbourne District General, Conquest Hospital and Bexhill Community Hospital The long-delayed Defence Investment Plan (DIP) to fund the armed forces was published on Tuesday, including the £15 billion boost to spending.In a written statement to Parliament, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said only two-thirds of the sum – £10.3 billion – had been identified, while the remaining £4.7 billion would be 'confirmed at Budget 2026, in a fair and balanced way'.Ms Reeves said the Treasury would focus on finding 'efficiencies' and cancelling or delaying 'lower priority programmes', while emphasising the Government would not cut day-to-day spending to pay for defence.Transport and energy budgets will face larger cuts than other departments, but Downing Street was unable to say which specific projects would be scrapped or scaled back to pay for increased defence spending.Asked if there was a list of projects that would be cut, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said details would be provided 'by the autumn'.Asked whether hospital building projects would be protected from cuts to capital budgets, he added: 'Thanks to this Government's record investment in the NHS there will be no impact to funding for frontline services.'This will also not affect the timetable for delivery of the seven Raac-affected hospitals which we've prioritised or Wave 1 projects of the New Hospital Programme and we still plan to spend more than £15 billion on capital health investment.'Asked about other hospital programmes, the spokesman repeated that the cuts would not affect the Raac-affected hospitals or the first wave of the Government's new hospitals programme.Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Helen Morgan said: 'From collapsing ceilings to sewage leaks, sunken floors to bucket strewn maternity units, our hospitals are not fit for purpose. It beggars belief that the government is now raiding threadbare repair budgets.'A decent local hospital, and a safe well defended country should be the least that people can expect. It is madness that the government are setting the two against each other.'She reiterated her party's call for defence bonds to be used to fund improvements to the Armed Forces. And Layla Moran, the chairwoman of the Commons' Health and Social Care Committee, added: 'If the Government is thinking of salami slicing the National Hospitals Programme, I would urge it to remember Lord Darzi's recent report – commissioned by ministers – which said the NHS estate has had a shortfall of £37bn in capital investment during the 2010s compared with our peer countries. 'The public will not feel the NHS has been turned around if their local hospital still has crumbling walls and leaking roofs.'