Ex-NATO chief says UK ‘not safe’: reports

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A former head of NATO warned Tuesday that Britain’s national security is “in peril”, as he launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s record on defence.

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George Robertson, an ex-defence secretary from Starmer’s Labour party, was to use a speech to accuse ministers of “corrosive complacency”, according to excerpts reported by the Financial Times and BBC.

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“We are underprepared. We are underinsured. We are under attack. We are not safe,” Robertson was to say, calling the Iran war a “rude wake-up call”.

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Robertson, NATO secretary general between 1999 and 2004, was commissioned by Starmer’s government to lead a review of the UK’s defence capabilities, which was published last year.

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A 10-year defence investment plan following the review was meant to be published late last year but has not yet been produced.

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Robertson, 80, told the Financial Times there was a gap between Starmer’s rhetoric on defence and the action he had delivered, saying the prime minister was “not willing to make the necessary investment”.

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In his speech in Salisbury, southern England on Tuesday night, Robertson was to accuse “non-military experts” in Britain’s treasury of “vandalism”, according to the reports.

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“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 was to say.

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Starmer has pledged to raise defence spending to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product from next year, increasing to three percent in the next parliament.

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The rise comes amid demands from US President Donald Trump that NATO allies spend more on defence, and as Europe faces continued Russian aggression.

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“We are delivering on the Strategic Defence Review to meet the threats we face,” a government spokesman said, adding the defence investment plan will be published “as soon as possible”.

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