Defence Investment Plan must fully funded and be published without further delay
Unite, the UK's leading union, has urged the government to publish the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) without further delay and it should be fully funded. Unite made its call following criticism from Lord Robertson and Conservative lead Kemi Bednanoch about the delay in the plan’s publication and that the UK’s defence capabilities are not able to meet global challenges.  
The ongoing war in Iran and the effect it has had on UK trade and national interests has exposed that the UK’s armed forces are inadequate to deal with ongoing global challenges.
Unite has long campaigned for increases in defence spending that leads to jobs and skills retention within the UK. Delays to the DIP are causing defence and aerospace companies to consider their UK operations putting jobs at risk. The delay to the DIP is also a risk to UK national security as vital defence projects like a new tranche of Typhoons, the A400M transport plane and the Skynet military satellite project remain unfunded.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ""The government's failure to produce the DIP is a threat to national security as well as to jobs and skills.
 
“It is becoming more apparent by the day that our armed forces are overstretched and under-equipped to deal with the global challenges we face.
“Our defence workers should be treated are a strategic national asset and when the much-delayed defence investment plan is finally agreed, the money must be spent in the UK. Failing to preserve and protect their skills and experience of these workers would mean throwing away vital know-how for defence projects. At best, this would be an extremely time-consuming and expensive mistake.
“The government must now ensure that contracts for a new tranche of Typhoon fast jets, the Skynet satellite and the A400M transport plane are signed off and production lines in Britain get rolling as soon as possible."
However, Unite has entirely rejected the suggestion by Lord Robertson and others that increased defence spending should come from cutting the welfare bill. Instead Unite believes that if extra money is needed it should be through a wealth tax.
Sharon Graham added: "It completely wrong to suggest that caring for the most vulnerable is risking national security. We are the sixth richest country in the world. If the government needs to raise funds it should introduce a wealth tax rather than attack the most vulnerable in society yet again.”
 
Unite is calling on the government to urgently publish the Defence Investment Plan and to ensure it includes:
  • The replacement of old RAF fighter jets with new Typhoons, fitted with Rolls Royce engines, equipped with British-built weapons from MBDA and assembled at BAE’s sites in Lancashire.
  • Provisions for the MoDs Military Satellite Communications System (Skynet) to continue being built in Portsmouth and Stevenage, as it has for the last 20 years.
  • The purchase of the A400M military transport plane.
Unite represents thousands of workers in defence and the union has been in numerous discussions with government over many months, producing high level reports, outlining the need to put it words into action, for jobs and our national security.