A former NATO secretary-general is delivering sharp criticism of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s defense policies, warning that inadequate military funding has left the United Kingdom dangerously vulnerable to international threats.
George Robertson, who previously served as NATO’s top official and helped create a defense strategy review for Starmer’s government, plans to deliver harsh words during a Tuesday lecture in Salisbury, England. Robertson, a former defense minister in Starmer’s Labour Party during the 1990s, told the Financial Times that the prime minister talks about defense priorities but fails to back up his words with sufficient financial commitment.
“Britain’s national security and safety is in peril,” Robertson is scheduled to declare, according to excerpts shared with the Financial Times and BBC. “We are under-prepared. We are under-insured. We are under attack. We are not safe.”
The former NATO chief plans to specifically criticize Finance Minister Rachel Reeves for giving defense matters minimal attention in recent budget presentations, reportedly dedicating just “40 words” to military spending in her autumn budget speech and completely ignoring the topic in a March update.
Robertson’s upcoming remarks represent an unusual public confrontation with Starmer’s administration, particularly significant given that he helped write the Strategic Defence Review that Starmer commissioned after taking office in 2024. The review recommended modernizing Britain’s military capabilities with advanced drones, cyber warfare tools, and data-driven combat technologies based on lessons learned from Ukraine’s conflict.
Starmer has defended his administration’s approach by pointing to what he calls 14 years of military underfunding by the previous Conservative government. The prime minister has committed to achieving the most substantial and sustained defense spending increase since the Cold War era, targeting 3% of the nation’s economic output during the next parliamentary term.
Government officials say they will soon release a decade-long defense investment blueprint designed to fulfill the goals outlined in Robertson’s 2024 strategic review. Last week, Starmer described ongoing Middle East conflicts as a critical moment for Britain, promising to strengthen both economic and military capabilities to address what he called an increasingly “volatile and dangerous” global environment.
However, Robertson intends to accuse British political leaders of displaying “corrosive complacency” toward defense priorities. He plans to describe financial decisions made by “non-military experts in the Treasury” as acts of “vandalism” against national security.
“We cannot defend Britain with an ever-expanding welfare budget,” Robertson is expected to argue during his lecture.
The former NATO leader will emphasize that global security conditions have significantly worsened following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and escalating Middle Eastern tensions, characterizing the current period as among the most dangerous in recent decades.
Neither Robertson’s representatives nor Starmer’s office immediately provided responses to requests for comment about the planned criticism.
