US EditionFormer Nato chief warns UK's national security 'in peril'
He says a £28 billion funding gap and repeated delays to the 10-year plan are leaving Britain unprepared for modern threats.
- Former Nato Secretary General Lord George Robertson warned today that Britain's security is "in peril" due to "corrosive complacency" in political leadership, criticizing repeated delays in publishing a crucial 10-year defence investment plan.
- Authored by Lord George and overseen by Defence Secretary John Healey in 2025, the Strategic Defence Review aims to prepare Britain for "warfighting readiness," but the government has repeatedly delayed the 10-year investment plan needed to fund it.
- General Sir Richard Barrons, another SDR author, agreed with Robertson that "there's an enormous gap between where we have to be to keep the country safe" and current capabilities, while the military faces a £28 billion funding black hole.
- On Monday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told MPs the government is working to finalize the investment plan, defending the delay by refusing to adopt plans that were "unfunded and not deliverable."
- Amid Middle East turbulence, the UK has committed to boost defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and 3% later, a necessity Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Richard Knighton called "probably the most dangerous time of the last 30 years.
39 Articles
39 Articles
Defence Debacle: A Call to Action for Britain's Security
Defence Debacle: A Call to Action for Britain's Security Former NATO chief George Robertson has slammed UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer for not allocating enough funds to defence, a move he claims leaves the nation vulnerable. Robertson, once the UK's defence secretary and later head of NATO, expressed concerns over the lack of alignment between Starmer's statements and actual financial commitments.Downing Street quickly dismissed Robertson's ass…
British leader’s complacency on defense puts country ‘in peril,’ former NATO chief warns
By Ivana Kottasová, CNN (CNN) — It’s not just the US President Donald Trump criticizing the British prime minister for being weak on defense. On Tuesday his own adviser George Robertson joined in, accusing Keir Starmer of a “corrosive complacency” that puts the United Kingdom “in peril.” Speaking to the Financial Times Robertson, a former NATO chief, said there was a gap between Starmer’s rhetoric and his actions. He said the prime minister was …
He will not be the first politician to have it happen, but the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, runs the risk of falling victim to his own swelling. The man he commissioned to design and draft the UK Strategic Defense Review in 2025, George Robertson — NATO Secretary General 1999-2003 and Defense Minister 1997-1999 — has skipped his proverbial prudence in attacking the Labour Government with extreme harshness. Many words and few facts, Robe…
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