British Defence Secretary John Healey delivered a landmark national security speech in London, warning Russia over increasingly aggressive espionage activities and cyber attacks targeting the United Kingdom.
Speaking at No. 9 Downing Street, Healey announced a historic expansion of UK defence spending, including plans to build new munitions factories, invest in advanced undersea drones, strengthen supply chains, and accelerate weapons production to ensure Britain is prepared for modern conflict.
Healey emphasized that the UK defence industry is becoming a major driver of economic growth, high-skilled jobs, and technological innovation. He highlighted Labour’s commitment to restoring Britain’s industrial base and reinforcing the country’s leadership role within NATO at a time of rising global threats.
The Defence Secretary also criticized political rivals for underfunding defence in past years, stressing that the UK must respond decisively to Russia’s hybrid warfare tactics—including cyber intrusions, surveillance operations, and hostile state activity targeting British institutions.
Healey said the new defence investments mark the beginning of a new era in British security, with expanded manufacturing capacity, upgraded capabilities, and closer cooperation with allies to counter threats worldwide.
#UKDefence #JohnHealey #NationalSecurity #Russia #CyberSecurity #Munitions #NATO
Speaking at No. 9 Downing Street, Healey announced a historic expansion of UK defence spending, including plans to build new munitions factories, invest in advanced undersea drones, strengthen supply chains, and accelerate weapons production to ensure Britain is prepared for modern conflict.
Healey emphasized that the UK defence industry is becoming a major driver of economic growth, high-skilled jobs, and technological innovation. He highlighted Labour’s commitment to restoring Britain’s industrial base and reinforcing the country’s leadership role within NATO at a time of rising global threats.
The Defence Secretary also criticized political rivals for underfunding defence in past years, stressing that the UK must respond decisively to Russia’s hybrid warfare tactics—including cyber intrusions, surveillance operations, and hostile state activity targeting British institutions.
Healey said the new defence investments mark the beginning of a new era in British security, with expanded manufacturing capacity, upgraded capabilities, and closer cooperation with allies to counter threats worldwide.
#UKDefence #JohnHealey #NationalSecurity #Russia #CyberSecurity #Munitions #NATO
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00And if we look forward in five years' time, in opposition, Keir Starmer made that commitment to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence.
00:11We're delivering it three years earlier than anyone expected.
00:15We made a clear NATO-first commitment. We're delivering it.
00:19We said we would reset relations with European allies. We're delivering it.
00:24We promised more British-based defence investment. We are delivering it.
00:28And the Chancellor's decisions at this budget are part of making Britain safer, stronger and more successful.
00:37So within this parliament, I want Britain to become the best place to invest and grow a defence business.
00:44I want Britain's armed forces to be the fastest innovating military in NATO.
00:49I want the British government investment matched by rising private investment.
00:54And I want communities right across Britain to see working people with new skills, new jobs, new hope for their families and for their future.
01:05Only Labour has this belief in the extraordinary strengths of Great Britain.
01:13The Tories will cut defence again.
01:16The Greens want to pull us out of NATO.
01:18The SNP spurn the proud Scottish defence industry.
01:24And Nigel Farage, he's soft on Putin, weak on NATO and not to be trusted on national security.
01:30It's Labour that is the party of defence.
01:35It was Labour that chose NATO.
01:38It was Labour that established our UK nuclear deterrent.
01:41And today, it is Labour choosing to make our country safer still, while bringing that defence dividend to every part of Britain.
01:51And only Labour can do this, because we know at the heart of defence, military and industrial have always been the working class.
02:04So like those who came before us, we rearm in the face of threats, we confront dictators and we boost our defence industry.
02:13And in the process, we can unite our country around this common purpose.
02:20That's what this budget will be about.
02:22Strong foundations to secure Britain's future.
02:27A Labour government delivering for defence, delivering for Britain.
02:35So I'll now take questions, if I may.
02:39And can I start with Carl from ITV?
02:49Have we got a mic?
02:50Apparently we're using the ones overhead, Secretary.
02:52Very good. Very good.
02:54Thanks very much.
02:54Secretary of State, you're asking the British taxpayer to put more money into defence.
03:02The Defence Committee says, though, that you need to be clearer with the public about the level of threat
03:08and what to expect in the event of a conflict.
03:12Can you be straight with people now whose money you're going to spend?
03:16What is the level of threat?
03:17How close are we to conflict?
03:19And what should they expect?
03:20So I started this speech at the press conference by setting out the immediate threat that we have from Russian spy ships.
03:35I set out the scale of cyber attacks that have been in this last year against the defence systems alone.
03:43I pointed to the way that Russia isn't just raising the stakes in Ukraine.
03:49There's rising aggression against NATO as well.
03:53And we've seen across a range of different parts of the world.
03:58Greater conflict, less predictability, greater danger.
04:03That's why we went to the election promising the British people that we would raise defence spending to 2.5% of GDP,
04:11a level we've not seen in this country since Labour was last in government in 2010.
04:15We're putting £5 billion into the defence budget in this year alone.
04:22We'll hit that 2.5%, 2.6% of NATO GDP by 2027.
04:29We've got an ambition to make that 3% in the next parliament.
04:32And we, like the other 31 nations of NATO, have signed up to a 5% target for core defence and national security.
04:43This reflects the new era of threat.
04:47It reflects the requirement for a new era for defence.
04:51And it recognises Britain's role, stepping up to lead in Europe, stepping up with other European nations on Ukraine and on NATO.
05:02Because our strength is our work with allies, which is why we made the promise at the election.
05:10You've seen it delivered since that Britain, under Labour, has reset our relations with Europe.
05:20Ben Wright, BBC.
05:22Thank you, Mr. Higley.
05:24I mean, the German government has said that they believe Russia could attack NATO within five years.
05:30Do you agree with that assessment?
05:33And if you look at the spending in Germany or Poland, they're ramping it up much faster than we are.
05:38The budget's coming up.
05:40Do you need more money quickly from the Treasury to put Britain on a war footing?
05:45And can this effort be done, you know, be candid with people, without taxes going up?
05:53We can't turn around the problems of the last 14 years overnight.
05:57We produced the Strategic Defence Review precisely to give us that vision for the future
06:02to set out the challenges of transforming our armed forces to make them more ready to fight still,
06:11more capable to deter, alongside NATO allies.
06:15We set out that NATO first commitment because we recognise that Britain won't fight alone,
06:22we won't deter alone, but we have to lead the way and we have to do so with allies.
06:27And it's that long-term commitment, that certain decade of rising defence investment,
06:34does have meant that we've now also seen the rising levels of private investment.
06:39And so I, in the last year, have spent as much time with investors as I have with industry.
06:46I've spent as much time with innovating small firms that hold the key for future capabilities
06:54that keep us ahead of our adversaries that keep us ahead of our adversaries that I have
06:56with the traditional defence businesses.
07:00And it's that combination of fresh investment, transformation,
07:08and a vision that sees the strength of our British industry
07:13as essential to equipping our armed forces
07:17and essential to providing greater deterrence against anybody that would attack us in the future.
07:26Ellen Milligan, Bloomberg, please.
07:30Can you give us more detail on the Russian ship pointing lasers at our pilots?
07:35How much of an escalation is that?
07:37And on the EU Safe Weapons Fund,
07:40was any progress made last night at the dinner between the Prime Minister, Germany and France?
07:45And with the deadline coming next week is no deal better than a bad deal.
07:50So on the Yantar, this is the second time in a year that it's entered UK waters.
07:57It is part of a Russian fleet designed to put and hold our undersea infrastructure
08:05and those of our allies at risk.
08:07It isn't just a naval operation, it's part of a Russian programme
08:13driven by what they call the Main Directorate of Deep Sea Research, or GUGI.
08:20And this is designed to have capabilities which can undertake surveillance in peacetime
08:27and sabotage in conflict.
08:31And that is why we've been determined whenever the Yantar comes into British wider waters.
08:39We track it, we deter it, and we say to Putin,
08:47we are ready and we do that alongside allies.
08:51As you saw this last year in the way that Britain led the response to attacks on critical infrastructure
08:58with other Baltic and Nordic nations,
09:01and then NATO stepped in as well with their operation.
09:05So it's a demonstration, if you like, of a British readiness to act,
09:10a British capability to act,
09:12because, make no mistake,
09:14we will not tolerate a threat to the British people's essential connections underwater.
09:23And on the SAFE programme,
09:26we were pleased when we signed the UK-EU Security and Defence Partnership.
09:37It was a milestone in resetting relations with Europe.
09:39We recognised, like President von der Leyen did,
09:45the importance of all European nations contributing to European security.
09:50So we've negotiated seriously throughout this period for participation in SAFE.
10:00But we've always made clear,
10:02whilst we were willing to pay a fair share of the costs of this programme,
10:08any deal had to be good value for money for our British taxpayers,
10:14had to be good value for our British defence industry.
10:18And I hope the Commission will get to the point that we can participate.
10:27But whether or not we do, in or out of SAFE,
10:30make no mistake, we are doing the deals with other European nations,
10:35so that British industry and the strengths that we can bring
10:38to future wider European security,
10:41we will continue to do that, in or out of SAFE.
10:45We will continue to win the export deals that benefit Britain.
10:49We will continue to provide the systems and weaponry and the innovation
10:53that helps make Europe safer.
10:55Rob Powell, Sky.
10:59Just to follow on from that on the Yantar,
11:01is this the first time that lasers have been used by a Russian vessel against pilots?
11:06And how dangerous is that?
11:07What are the risks?
11:08And also, how will the UK government be responding to this?
11:11Clearly, anything that impedes, disrupts, or puts at risk pilots
11:22in charge of British military planes is deeply dangerous.
11:28This is the first time we've had this action from Yantar
11:31directed against the British RAF.
11:35We take it extremely seriously.
11:36I have changed the Navy's rules of engagement
11:40so that we can follow more closely,
11:47monitor more closely the activities of the Yantar
11:51when it's in our wider waters.
11:53We have military options ready should the Yantar change course.
12:03I'm not going to reveal those
12:05because that only makes President Putin wiser.
12:09But I would just say to you,
12:11look at what we did last time.
12:13When the Yantar was in British waters,
12:16we surfaced a nuclear-powered British attack submarine
12:21close to that ship.
12:25A submarine that they did not know was there,
12:29that had helped track its every movement before.
12:31And look at what I'm going to do this afternoon.
12:36I shall go to Plymouth.
12:38I shall open a new factory,
12:40a British-based factory,
12:42that has come directly from the Trinity House agreement
12:44with Germany last year,
12:47with fresh investment into the UK,
12:50where we can start to design and manufacture
12:53the sea and undersea drones
12:55that will help reinforce exactly the sort of security
12:59that is threatened by the actions of Putin
13:02and his spy ships like Yantar.
13:08Charlie, Charlie Parker, The Times.
13:11What do you make of the Defence Committee's assessment
13:14that it's highly likely the US will withdraw from Europe
13:18under President Trump
13:19and its subsequent call for Britain
13:21to rapidly replace its American military systems?
13:24Sorry, whose assessment was that?
13:25The Defence Committee's in its report today.
13:28I take a different view.
13:34The British government takes a different view.
13:36The Prime Minister takes a different view.
13:38And I would suggest the Select Committee
13:42looks at the commitment that President Trump and the US made
13:45back at the NATO-Hague Summit in June,
13:49where the US led the way,
13:51alongside the other 31 nations in NATO with the UK,
13:55in making that long-term commitment to NATO,
13:59that long-term commitment to increasing defence investment,
14:03because we recognise that together
14:06we need to step up the deterrence, and we are.
14:09We need to step up our capabilities
14:11to defend the wider Europe, and we are.
14:14And we recognised also that security through NATO
14:18in the Euro-Atlantic area
14:20is indivisibly linked with wider security
14:25in the Indo-Pacific.
14:26I'd just say to the Select Committee,
14:31the strength of NATO
14:34is not just about the defence of Europe,
14:39it's about the defence of America too.
14:42That was the founding purpose
14:44that Britain played the leading part
14:46in establishing NATO in the first place.
14:48It's as true now as it was then.
14:51So I disagree with the Select Committee
14:54on that point of assessment,
14:56but they're right to say
14:57Britain must pick up the pace
15:00of what we do in the future,
15:02and that's exactly what we've been doing
15:04since July last year
15:05as a new government.
15:07Kieran Stacey, Guardian.
15:13Can I ask a little bit more
15:14about the threats that we learned
15:16about yesterday coming from China,
15:19especially on LinkedIn?
15:21Do you know if any ministers
15:23or government advisers were contacted
15:25over LinkedIn in this way?
15:27Do you have any intelligence
15:28on whether these are real people or not?
15:32And is there any advice
15:35that you're issuing
15:36either to government officials
15:37or to the public at large
15:38about using LinkedIn?
15:41In reverse order, Kieran,
15:43the speaker issued advice to all MPs.
15:47The speaker with the head of MI5
15:50set out the nature of the spying threat
15:54that had been established.
15:57I have no information
15:59about whether officials in government
16:01were subject to the same sorts of activities.
16:05And the security minister
16:06made a statement in the Commons yesterday
16:08which set out the confirmation
16:11about the new espionage plan
16:13the government has put in place
16:15and set out details of 170 million
16:17in extra investment
16:18that will go into securing
16:20the communication systems
16:22on which government in particular relies.
16:24Emilio, from Playbook, please.
16:28Hiya.
16:29Thanks very much.
16:30Why have we done a deal
16:32with Turkey to sell them our jets
16:36when they are the third global largest importer
16:39of Russian oil funding,
16:42the Russian war machine?
16:44Because Turkey, like the UK,
16:46is an important member of NATO.
16:48Because Turkey, like the UK,
16:50is a major nation
16:55involved in the support for Ukraine
16:58and the plans to lead the coalition
17:00of the willing
17:01if we can get an agreement
17:02between Putin and Zelensky
17:07to end the fighting.
17:08and because working with other NATO allies together,
17:15bringing yet another nation
17:17into that group of typhoon flying nations
17:21allows us to strengthen
17:25that wider European security,
17:28to respond to this new era of threats
17:30that we face,
17:31and it allows us also
17:32to boost the direct investment
17:36that underpins, in this case,
17:3920,000 UK jobs.
17:42So this deal,
17:43the biggest British fighter jet deal
17:47for 20 years,
17:50will secure those jobs
17:51for years to come.
17:53And then finally,
17:56Aj Singh, please.
17:57Hello, Defence Secretary.
17:58I want to come back
17:59on the safe rearmament fund,
18:01if I could.
18:02The two sides,
18:03according to reports,
18:04are really, really far apart on this.
18:06The EU's demanding billions of euros.
18:09We're offering hundreds of millions of pounds.
18:11How do you rate the chances
18:12of a deal by the deadline
18:15in, I think, 12 days?
18:17And, I mean,
18:17what's your message to the EU on this,
18:19given the threats
18:20to European security as a whole?
18:22My message to the EU
18:25is what it's always been.
18:27We want a deal.
18:28Back in May,
18:30the President von der Leyen
18:31talked about a deal
18:33within weeks on safe,
18:35and we've been negotiating
18:36at each stage,
18:37ready for a deal,
18:38but also clear.
18:40Clear that we're ready
18:42to pay a contribution
18:44to the costs
18:45of running the scheme.
18:46That's fair.
18:48Ready to pay,
18:49if there is good value for money,
18:51for our taxpayers
18:52and our industry.
18:55And we've waited
18:57weeks within the negotiations
19:01for the chance
19:04to see the European proposals
19:07in some important areas.
19:09and for us,
19:14we're ready to be part of this scheme,
19:18but we're not ready
19:19to be willing
19:19at any price.
19:21And for us,
19:22as the UK,
19:23we have an industry
19:24that's second to none
19:25in Europe.
19:26We will do these deals
19:27with other European countries.
19:29We will play our part
19:30in reinforcing European security,
19:32and we recognize
19:33that responsibility
19:34we have as Britain
19:36amongst European nations,
19:38particularly those in NATO,
19:39to play that role in future,
19:41and we will,
19:42in or out of safe.
19:45Thank you all.
19:46Thank you very much.
19:47And to those of you
19:49who are due to come with me
19:49to Plymouth,
19:50and look forward to seeing you
19:51down there at the factory.
Recommended
1:51
|
Up next
1:20
0:29
2:57
0:43
0:53
1:13
0:40
1:23
Be the first to comment