CASE FOR THE DEFENCE: MEETING THE NATION’S FUTURE CHALLENGE

At the recent Conservative Party Conference, Sky News’s Tamara Cohen sat down with James Heappey MP, Minister of State for Armed Forces and Veterans. The focus of the event, which was supported by BAE Systems, was the future defence challenge that the UK faces, and how the government plans to meet it.

At the recent Conservative Party Conference, Sky News’ Tamara Cohen sat down with James Heappey MP, Minister of State for Armed Forces and Veterans. The focus of the event, supported by BAE Systems, was the future defence challenge the UK faces and how the government plans to meet it.

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine still dominating the headlines, the future role of the UK Armed

Forces could not be higher on the political agenda.

Armed Forces Minister, James Heappey, is the man charged with navigating a course that both responds to the situation in Ukraine and ensures that the nation’s defence strategy can deal with future emerging threats.

From the outset, Heappey makes it clear there is currently a shift in thinking when it comes to the nature of the challenges the nation faces.

“At the strategic level, we have spent 20 years focused on counter-insurgency,” he tells Cohen. “What wasn’t foreseen was an acute stateon-state threat within the Euro-Atlantic. In that sense, it is fair to say, strategically, we weren’t prepared.”

As an ex-Army officer, Heappey is well-used to adapting plans to respond to changing circumstances. He speaks with pride and passion about the speed with which the UK has quickly stepped up to provide training and equipment for the Ukrainian forces.

However, he does acknowledge that, as a result of Russia’s invasion, the UK now needs to recalibrate its long-term defence priorities.

Balancing how we respond to short and long-term threats is the difficult task of the revised Integrated Review, due to be published at the end of this year. Heappey tells the event that he wants the IR to be “spectacularly unglamorous.”

“I want our armed forces to be relevant. I want them to be lethal. I want them to be resilient,” he explains to Cohen. “I want them to be able to deploy anywhere in the world quickly. I want them to have the stockpiles they need to fight with intensity.”

Rather than focusing on bold headline-grabbing promises, the Minister instead expects the Integrated Review to identify the practical measures required to achieve this ambition.

Heappey recognises that creating a modern fighting force may entail a hefty price tag. However, even with growing pressure on the public finances, he remains optimistic that the pledge to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030 will lead to increased resources.

“They made that pledge because they had to,” he tells Cohen. “We are in a more uncertain world. The first responsibility of government has to be the security of the nation.”

However, the Minister is equally clear that spending on defence is always far more than a debit column on the balance sheet. He argues that defence investment will be “catalytic to regional economies,” delivering wider economic benefits across the UK.

What Heappey makes clear throughout the discussion is that, whilst current threats need to be understood and responded to robustly, this cannot distract us from longer-term challenges that we know the nation will face in the years ahead.

However, with political and military leadership, sustained investment and the support of partners in place, Heappey believes the UK is ready to meet those challenges with confidence.