The UK’s Ministry of Defence is a big winner from the ructions over Keir Starmer's leadership, getting extra funding to secure the Strait of Hormuz as part of a significant increase in military spending.
A “sustained increase in defence spending” was announced in Wednesday’s King’s Speech, in which the government’s legislation for the coming parliament was put forward. The speech, which featured 37 bills, will boost Britain’s national security, with new powers given to proscribe state-sponsored outfits such as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as terrorist organisations.
Asked if the legislation will specifically target the IRGC, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman told The National that once the bill becomes law “we will look to proscribe organisations quickly”.
The Prime Minister met Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who is rumoured to be preparing to quit and challenge for the leadership, before the speech on Wednesday. Mr Starmer’s fight for survival is dominating Westminster, but one element of the crisis is that the ministry is emerging as a major winner.
Defence Secretary John Healey is widely respected in the Labour party and could be the candidate who unifies the party’s factions if Mr Starmer is ousted. His Armed Forces Minister, the Royal Marines veteran Al Carns, is also among potential candidates despite being new to politics.
In an early indication that the Ministry of Defence will be granted the funding required for Britain’s ailing military, it was announced that a force to secure the Strait of Hormuz would be backed by £115 million for minehunting autonomous vehicles and counter-drone systems.
Speaking after an online meeting with 40 fellow ministers, Mr Healey said the Hormuz operation would be “strictly defensive” and would aim to “reassure commercial shipping and conduct mine-clearing operations after a settled peace agreement”.
In a sign of how warfare is rapidly changing, no warships will be sent into the strait until the drone minehunters, led by autonomous drone boats made by Kraken, a British company, have cleared it of Iranian mines.
The landing ship RFA Lyme Bay will also be used to launch drones during operations in the strait. Britain’s contribution to the force will also include Typhoon fighters based in Qatar alongside the Type 45 air defence destroyer HMS Dragon, which is expected to move into the region.
Australia will contribute an E-7A Wedgetail reconnaissance aircraft to help protect the UAE from Iran’s drone and missile attacks.
“The crisis in the Middle East affects all our nations, our people, our companies, our economies, and we must meet this moment,” Mr Healey said. “Iran simply cannot hold the strait and the global economy hostage”.
Mr Healey will have a further spring in his step when the ministry's long-awaited defence investment plan is announced, reportedly next week. As part of Mr Starmer’s strategy to remain in office he is expected to significantly increase defence spending to achieve the target of 3 per cent of GDP.
The investment plan was meant to have been published last year but has been delayed due to wrangling between the Treasury and the Defence Ministry, but the Prime Minister appears to have decisively intervened.
State threats
The address by King Charles III pointed to an uncertain future. “An increasingly dangerous and volatile world threatens the United Kingdom, with the conflict in the Middle East only the most recent example,” he said. “Every element of the nation’s energy, defence and economic security will be tested.”
The Tackling State Threats Bill states that the threat from foreign powers and their proxies “has grown in scale and complexity, threatening lives”, with new powers needed to keep pace.
Under proposed laws that will probably affect the IRGC, the government will be able to “specify organisations including state entities and their proxies that are engaged in activity to threaten our national security, including espionage, sabotage and interference”.
It will be made easier to bring prosecutions against people who work for specified proxy organisations, such as front companies and organised groups. The new law will “provide a powerful new tool to disrupt and deter the activities of state-linked entities and those acting in concert with them”.
New criminal offences aim to disrupt specified groups operating in the UK, including conduct such as belonging to an organisation or raising support. King Charles also stated that the government “will continue to promote long-term peace in the Middle East, and the two-state solution”.
