Starmer and Reeves launch delayed defence plan with a sense of resigned relief

T here was an air of melancholy as the defence investment plan (Dip) was announced at Malloy Aeronautics in Maidenhead. A sense that the main figures were fading out of history even as the legacy was being written, as if the event were sepia-tinted. The Dip was supposed to be Keir Starmer’s lasting bequest to the country. His gift to an ungrateful nation. And if it is to be his swansong, it couldn’t be more Keir if it tried: something that manages not to satisfy any of the major players involved – the military, nor our allies – and probably not even Keir himself. The story of his time in government. First to speak was Dan Jarvis, the defence secretary for these past few weeks since the resignation of his predecessor. He conveniently forgot to point out that the extra £1.5bn he had managed to extract from the Treasury still fell well short of the bare minimum John Healey had said was required to fulfil the UK’s commitments to Nato at the speed the military wanted. Maybe he was just hoping that no one would notice. Or was a bit pushed for time. He was reportedly asked to cut the bit he had wanted to say about the chief of staff backing the Dip. Because he apparently doesn’t. Instead, Jarvis chose to look on the bright side. The shininess of the new kit for the armed services. The excitement over more drone capacity. We would now be ready for any kind of modern warfare. Except for one that involved warfare. “I will seek to do everything I can for the military,” he concluded. …