Plans to ensure that Britain’s industries and critical infrastructure are prepared for war will reportedly be delayed until next year, raising growing questions over the UK’s ability to defend itself in an increasingly volatile global landscape.
The Defence Readiness Bill, which ministers had said would be introduced this year, is now not expected to feature in the government’s forthcoming legislative plans.
The Bill, recommended by the strategic defence review, would make sure key industries prepare their workers in the event they were called up for war.
It comes despite growing instability amid the ongoing war in Iran, and repeated threats from US president Donald Trump to pull out of Nato.
Defence minister Lord Coaker said last year the Bill would be introduced at the beginning of 2026. But sources have now told The Times that the legislation is not expected to feature in the King’s Speech in May, which sets the agenda for the next session of parliament.
Tan Dhesi, Labour chairman of the Commons Defence Select Committee, told the newspaper there were parallels with the defence investment plan, a long-delayed strategy that sets out how the armed forces will order new equipment for war.
The repeated delays risk “sending damaging signals to adversaries and allies”, the senior Labour MP said.
He added: “In this era of geopolitical tension and conflict, the Ministry of Defence needs to start moving much, much faster.”
The UK has pledged to boost defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027 in order to plug gaps in Britain’s ailing military. It has also promised to raise spending to 3 per cent in the next parliament “when fiscal and economic conditions allow”.
But amid increasing instability in the Middle East, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and questions over the robustness of the Nato alliance there are now growing calls for Britain to move quicker in bolstering its defences.
The delay coincides with a former top military commander’s warning last week that the British army is so depleted it could only “seize a small market town on a good day”.
Giving a damning assessment of the military, General Sir Richard Barrons, who was one of the authors of the strategic defence review, warned that none of the services could do “anything substantial”.
“The armed forces that we have now, because of their size, but also because of their sophistication, can make a very small contribution on land, in the air and at sea, to an enterprise either led by the US or more likely a Nato undertaking. What it cannot do is anything substantial,” he told the BBC.
Last week, Mr Trump warned Sir Keir Starmer and other allies that the “US won’t be there to help you any more, just like you weren’t there for us”, after they refused to join US strikes on Iran.
Mr Trump told the UK and other countries that did not take part in the initial strikes on Iran to “get your own oil”, adding that they should attempt to reopen the Strait of Hormuz themselves.
He also directly attacked Sir Keir’s government for having “refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran” and told it to “start learning how to fight for yourself”.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Trump said he was strongly considering pulling the US out of Nato, labelling the alliance a “paper tiger”.
A government spokesperson said: “National security is our first duty, and we have the resources we need to keep the United Kingdom safe from attacks, whether it’s on our soil or from abroad.
“We’re constantly hardening and sharpening our approach to homeland security, backed by the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War, making the UK well able to respond to the threats we face. We don’t comment on speculation regarding the King’s Speech.”
