Kemi Badenoch has told Radio 5 Live that she “100% agrees” with what George Robertson is saying, as quoted in the FT, about Britain being unable to defend itself properly with an “ever-expanding wefare budget”. (See 8.58am.) Asked about his speech in an interview this morning, she said:

We used to spend one in every seven pounds on welfare. Now it’s one in every three pounds and a lot of that money has basically been swapped for defence.

The world is not as peaceful as it used to be. The peace dividend that existed after the fall of the Berlin Wall is gone, we need to spend more money on defence.

This is a former Labour defence secretary, former [Nato] secretary general, saying what I’ve been saying for the past few weeks.

According to the FT, Robertson will also say in his speech tonight that “depressingly” the leaders of the Liberal Democrat and Reform UK turned down his invitation to a briefing on what the strategic defence review says. Badenoch said this was proof other parties were not taking defence seriously.

Nigel Farage’s spokesperson told the FT that the Reform UK leader was not aware of the invitation. Ed Davey’s spokesperson did not respond to the FT’s request for a comment.

The government has defended its record on defence spending in response to the criticisms made by George Robertson. (See 8.58am.) In response to the FT story, a government spokesperson said:

We are delivering on the strategic defence review to meet the threats we face.

It is backed by the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War, with a total of over £270bn being invested across this parliament.

We are finalising our defence investment plan that we will publish as soon as possible, putting the best kit and technology into the hands of our forces, rebuilding British industry to make defence an engine for growth and doubling down on our own commitment to Nato.

Good morning. When Keir Starmer gave evidence to the Commons liaison committee before the Easter recess, and when he made a statement to MPs yesterday on the first day after it was over, he was repeatedly asked when the government will publish its defence investment plan (DIP). On both occasions, he could not give a timetable and would just say it would be published as soon as it was ready.

His critics are furious because the DIP, a 10-year plan explaining how the government will fund its commitment to get defence spending up to 3% of GDP by the end of the next parliament, with total national security spending reaching 5% of GDP by 2035, was due to be published last autumn.

In particular, the DIP will explain how the government will be able to fulfil the goals set out in the strategic defence review it published last year. The review was led by the Labour peer George Robertson, a former defence secretary and former secretary general of Nato. And he seems to have finally lost patience with the government.

He is giving a speech in Salisbury tonight, but Lucy Fisher from the Financial Times has already written up some extracts and in them Robertson is withering about the Treasury. According to Fisher’s report, Robertson will accuse “non-military experts in the Treasury” of “vandalism”, adding: “We cannot defend Britain with an ever-expanding welfare budget.”

He will criticise Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, for devoting just 40 words to defence in her budget speech last year, and saying nothing about the topic at all in her spring statement last month. He will say:

There is a corrosive complacency today in Britain’s political leadership. Lip service is paid to the risks, the threats, the bright red signals of danger — but even a promised national conversation about defence can’t be started.

He will also say Britain is not safe.

We are underprepared. We are underinsured. We are under attack. We are not safe . . . Britain’s national security and safety is in peril.

Robertson is not a defence loudmouth. He is a quintessential establishment figure who for most of his career has avoided being provocative, or rocking the boat. If he feels minded to speak out like this, it must be serious.

Olivia Lee has a full write-up here.

This morning General Sir Richard Barrons, who along with Robertson was one of the three experts who wrote the defence review (the other was the former White House adviser and Russia expert Fiona Hill), gave an interview to the Today programme. Barrons, a former commander of Joint Forces Command, fully supported what Robertson will be saying in his speech. And he said that Britain’s armed forces are so diminished that he had to accept that Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, was right when he mocked the Royal Navy last month.

“Last time I checked, there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like [clear the strait of Hormuz] as well,” Hegseth said.

Asked how he felt hearing that, Barrons said:

Like many others I hung my head in sorrow. But I couldn’t argue with him because although the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force and the army are, in their bones, outstanding institutions, they are simply too small and too undernourished to deal with the world that we we now live in. And the review says this.

Here is the agenda for the day.

Morning: Keir Starmer chairs cabinet. There will be a political session, as well as the usual government meeting.

10am: South East Water executives give evidence to the environment, food and rural affairs committee, followed by Ofwat chief executive Chris Walters at 11am.

10am: Education experts give evidence to the Commons education committee about the proposed changes to Send (special educational needs and disabilities) provision.

10.30am: Executives from TikTok, Meta, Sky TV and Paramount TV executives give evidence to the culture committee about children’s TV and video content.

Morning: Kemi Badenoch is on a visit in south London.

11am: Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, holds a press conference focusing on health.

11.30am: Wes Streeting, the health secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

Noon: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

Afternoon: Starmer meets his Dutch counterpart, Rob Jetten, in Downing Street.

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