New defence secretary wins another £1.5bn to boost drone spending

The new defence secretary has secured an extra £1.5bn to the UK’s long-delayed defence investment plan, with the bulk of that to be spent on drones to deter Russia and Iran. Rows about closing an £18bn funding gap had led to the resignation of John Healey and raised questions about Britain’s commitments to Nato – though on Monday the head of the alliance told the Guardian he believed the UK would honour its commitments. Two sources said the deficit had been reduced by £15bn after Dan Jarvis successfully persuaded the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to give the Ministry of Defence a little more than the £13.5bn promised to his predecessor, who quit in protest at the package . The cash has allowed Jarvis to increase an already promised £4bn spend on drones to £5bn over the next four years, as part of a deal that Keir Starmer was desperate to conclude before leaving office. Some of the extra money for defence had been found by asking other government departments to take a cut of at least 1% from their capital budgets in one of the most acrimonious Whitehall rows in recent memory. Allies of Jarvis said he wanted to “look people in the eye” when the plan was published – while those close to Reeves said she had found him easier to deal with than Healey, who had become frustrated in his final weeks as defence secretary. …