Don’t cut the army, says Labour as it positions itself as the party of security

The government needs to rearm the British military to keep Ukraine supplied and to ensure the country is the lead European state in Nato, Labour’s defence spokesman will say in a keynote speech.

Positioning Labour as the party of security for Britain, John Healey will call for a halt to cuts in the Army and a strategic pact with European partners to face challenges in an increasingly dangerous world.

Speaking at RUSI (Royal United Service Institute) in London ahead of next month’s publication of the Integrated Review, Mr Healey will call for urgent action to repair a military that defence secretary Ben Wallace acknowledges is “hollowed out and underfunded”.

A Labour government, he will pledge, would conduct a Strategic Defence and Security Review within its first year in government, and carry out a “Nato test” on major projects during its first 100 days to ensure Britain is on track to meet its Alliance commitment.

Mr Healey holds that the Ukraine war may continue until next year. He will say “the next government will inherit the Ukraine conflict and Russia’s wider aggression. With a general election, there may be a change to Labour but there will be no change to Britain’s resolve in confronting Russia’s threats, pursuing Putin’s crimes and standing with Ukraine”.

In the meantime, the shadow defence secretary will call on Rishi Sunak’s government to “set out a stockpiles strategy to maintain military help to Ukraine and replenish our armed forces, reform defence procurement, and publish a 2023 Action Plan for Ukraine”.

The government needs, he will say, to “give the highest priority to security in Europe, the Atlantic and the Arctic – our Nato area, ensure our UK commitments to the alliance are fulfilled in full and halt further cuts to the British Army”.

The Tories also must “fix their post-Brexit blind spot over Europe to seek a security pact with the EU and new defence agreements with leading European allies like Germany to make Brexit work and keep Europe safe”, he will say.

Amid warnings from current and former senior commanders that the UK’s munitions arsenal is dwindling with munitions being sent to Ukraine, Mr Healey will call for an overhaul of a “wasteful peacetime procurement system”.

Domestic manufacturing needs to be urgently geared up to “maintain UK military help to Ukraine and restock weapons and ammunition for our own armed forces ... We need to shift parts of our defence industry and MoD procurement onto an urgent operational footing ... to replenish UK stocks for any future conflict”.