MoD lacks ‘credible plan’ to fund UK’s armed forces, MPs warn

The Ministry of Defence has no credible plan to fund the armed forces the Government wants, leaving the UK increasingly reliant on its allies, MPs have warned.

The gap between the MoD’s budget and the cost of the UK’s desired military capabilities has ballooned to £16.9 billion, its largest deficit ever, despite an injection of £46.3 billion over the next 10 years.

But the influential Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has warned that the real deficit could be closer to £29 billion as some parts of the armed forces only included capabilities that were affordable rather than all those the Government had requested.

Dame Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the cross-party PAC, said: “In an increasingly volatile world, the Ministry of Defence’s lack of a credible plan to deliver fully funded military capability as desired by Government leaves us in an alarming place.”

Labour said the report was “more proof” that the Conservatives had failed to “deal with the deep problems in the MoD”.

In a report on the MoD’s Equipment Plan published on Friday, the PAC warned that gaps in military capabilities had left the UK more reliant on its allies to protect its own interests, while the credibility of Britain’s armed forces had been “undermined”.