https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a...ding-vvsbhhggw
Armed forces update postpones decisions on military spending
An update on the future of the armed forces will contain no headline conclusions and no new money,
The Times understands.
Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary, will today instead outline commitments to buy the right equipment, deliver value for money and make the Ministry of Defence as cost-effective as possible, a Whitehall source said. “It will be a relatively dry update with more to come later,” the source said. A second source said the written statement would make clear that “we have dealt with key areas of work”.
The move falls far short of a fully funded plan for the army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, despite months of work by military chiefs, defence officials and the defence secretary to formulate a credible plan for defence.
The statement is likely to be met with disappointment but not surprise by MPs. The headline conclusions of the modernising programme should have been agreed by Theresa May and the chancellor Philip Hammond in a meeting with Mr Williamson before a Nato summit last week. However, the meeting never happened as Mrs May, consumed by Brexit, either ran out of time or decided not to make the time, according to three Whitehall sources.
Instead, tough decisions on the future of the military, which has at least a £20 billion hole in ambitions to buy warplanes, satellites, ships and submarines over the next decade, will not be made until autumn at the earliest.
It also means that a desire to announce an above-inflation pay rise for troops, which The Times understands has been recommended by an independent pay review body, is not expected before MPs break up for the summer. Clarity over pay had been expected by the end of June but was delayed amid uncertainty over the defence budget.
A failure to agree to give the MoD a minimum of an additional £2.5 billion a year would raise the prospect of another round of cuts to the armed forces. The MoD must also deliver billions of pounds in efficiency savings........