UK government launches root and branch review of UK Armed Forces
Newly elected UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has commissioned a review of the UK Armed Forces, intended to help “forge a new clear-eyed approach to [the UK’s] national defences”.
The Strategic Defence Review (reporting in the first half of 2025) will be overseen by Defence Secretary John Healey and headed by Lord Robertson, and will consult serving military, veterans, MPs of all parties, industry, and academia.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative for UK defence, the project will be headed three external reviewers: Lord Robertson (former defence secretary and NATO secretary general), Dr Fiona Hill CMG (foreign policy expert and former US presidential advisor), and General Sir Richard Barrons (former commander of Joint Forces command and former deputy chief of the Defence Staff).
“At the start of a new era for Britain, we need a new era for defence. The Review will strengthen the foundations for this new mission-driven Government,” explained Healey. “This new era requires a new type of review that moves at pace. The Prime Minister and I will therefore draw external military, industrial and foreign policy experts, and those from inside Government, to help set the path for Britain’s defence for the next decade.”
Acknowledging that “we live in a more dangerous and volatile world,” Starmer added: “We will make sure our hollowed out armed forces are bolstered and respected, that defence spending is responsibly increased, and that our country has the capabilities needed to ensure the UK’s resilience for the long term”.
