Armed Forces need to ‘live within their means’, Wes Streeting warns

Wes Streeting has warned that the armed forces must "live within their means", following concerns that non-essential British Army training activities were halted to save money.

Addressing his first oral questions in the Commons as Defence Secretary, Mr Streeting said he intends to tackle historic problems of "routine overspending" across the Ministry of Defence.

He explained that this situation has required "reprioritisation", including changes around military training.

His comments follow reports in September that collective training exercises for UK-based units were being suspended for most of this year due to budget pressures.

Mr Streeting told MPs on Monday: “When I arrived in the Ministry of Defence, there was an in-year overspend that would have seen us overcommitted by the end of the year.

“And as I did at (the Department of) Health, I make absolutely no apology whatsoever for sending a very strong message very early on that, while this Government is delivering the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War, I also expect my department and our armed forces to live within their means.

“I think that message has been received loud and clear, and will help me tackle the historic problems we’ve had in the Ministry of Defence of routine overspending, challenges with value for money and productivity.”

He added: “There is further training to take place throughout the rest of this year, including major exercises that we have taken part in.

“But I once again restate, that we’ve got to live within our means. That has required some reprioritisation, including of training.

“We’ve got to focus on the right things, and make sure we’re ready to fight the next war, not the last war.

“And absolutely, it’s not been a popular decision, but I absolutely stand by the decisions I’ve taken to make sure the culture in my department is one that lives within its means and delivers value to the taxpayer.”

His comments come amid growing pressure on the Government to hike defence spending to 3% of national income by 2030, rising to 3.5% by 2035.

Chancellor John Healey, who resigned as defence secretary from Sir Keir Starmer’s Cabinet earlier this year over defence spending, has said he will outline the path to 3% by 2030 in next year’s spending review.