Britain must be ‘ready to fight’, minister says ahead of defence review

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Defence secretary John Healey has said Britain must “prepare for war” but admitted ahead of the publication of the government’s strategic defence review he was struggling to halt a decline in the size of the army.

Healey also refused on Sunday to say whether the Treasury had guaranteed extra funding to take British spending on defence to 3 per cent of GDP in the next parliament, again referring to the target as “an ambition”.

In a series of interviews ahead of Monday’s publication of the SDR, which will lay out military spending plans and priorities for the coming years, Healey said Britain was facing multiple threats, adding: “We prepare for war in order to secure the peace”.

He did not deny a report in the Sunday Times that Britain wanted to purchase US-made fighter jets capable of firing tactical nuclear weapons, to counter the growing threat posed by Russia.

Asked whether Britain was looking at different ways to launch nuclear weapons — aside from its Trident nuclear submarine deterrent — Healey said: “I won’t get into discussions that need to remain private”.

While Healey said he had “no doubt” Britain would increase overall defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP in the next parliament, he declined to say whether chancellor Rachel Reeves was backing the plan.

But he said the goal was “an ambition”, rather than a firm commitment. Britain will increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent by 2027 by cutting the overseas aid budget.

“I’ve no doubt that we’ll hit that ambition of meeting 3 per cent in the next parliament,” Healey told the BBC.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer launched the strategic defence review after entering office last year to help prepare the UK for what he described at the time as “a more dangerous and volatile world”.

The SDR is likely to set out targets for the size of the army, which will be closely watched to see if it goes above the current target of 73,000 for 2025, most recently reaffirmed in 2023.

As of April, however, the Army’s full-time trained strength had declined to approximately 70,860.

Asked about his target of having 73,000 soldiers, Healey said his first job was to stop people leaving.

“There has been a 15-year recruitment and retention crisis in our forces,” he said. “We have narrowed that gap but we still have more people leaving than joining. Our first job is to reverse that trend.

“Then we want to see in the next parliament an ability to start increasing numbers.”

Summing up the threat to Britain and the west, he said: “We’re in a world that is changing now. We’ve got to respond to a world of growing threats.

“It’s growing Russian aggression, it’s those daily cyber attacks, it’s new nuclear risks and it’s increasing tension in other parts of the world as well.”

Earlier Healey announced Britain would procure up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons and spend £1.5bn on building at least six new munitions factories. “This is part of our readiness to fight if required,” he added.

The SDR was led by former Nato secretary-general Lord George Robertson with support from ex-White House Russia adviser Fiona Hill and ex-deputy chief of the defence staff General Sir Richard Barrons. They handed in the final iteration of their review in early March.