Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has defended its commitment to increasing defence spending, insisting it is not delaying efforts to strengthen the country’s military capabilities despite difficult economic conditions and competing demands on public finances.
Speaking ahead of Remembrance Sunday, Lisa Nandy acknowledged that achieving the spending targets would require difficult financial decisions, including reductions in funding for other government departments.
“There are choices to be made, and in a very, very difficult, spending environment where there isn’t a lot of money to come by and where the global economic situation is very tough, we’ve got to make choices.
“But we’ve made our choice clear. We are going to fund defence to the tune of 3.5% by 2035. That’s a commitment we’ve made to our NATO partners. We want to do that sooner. We want to hit 3% by 2030.”
Lisa Nandy
She added that the Government recognised the financial implications of its commitments but insisted that further action would be taken to meet its defence spending ambitions.
Government is ‘Not Being Complacent’ on Defence Spending
Lisa Nandy acknowledged that increasing defence expenditure would require difficult trade-offs, particularly as the Government seeks to balance military investment against domestic spending priorities.
“But we’re not being complacent about this and we’re not delaying,” she stressed.
The Culture Secretary further acknowledged that additional difficult decisions lay ahead, indicating that the Government would need to make further adjustments to its spending priorities to fulfil its commitments.
Also, Lisa Nandy backed the Prime Minister’s position that welfare expenditure needed to be reduced, although she argued that the approach must reflect Labour’s political and economic priorities.
She also defended the Government’s decision to introduce funding schemes aimed at supporting young people while pursuing reductions in public expenditure.
According to Lisa Nandy, investing in opportunities for young people could help reduce the welfare bill by enabling more people to secure employment and contribute to the economy.
She also rejected calls from the Conservative Party for sweeping reductions in welfare expenditure, arguing that such an approach would fail to address the underlying challenges.
“What I don’t think you can do is what the Tories are asking us to do, which is just to axe the welfare budget altogether. Frankly, if it was that easy, they would have done it in the 14 years that they were in government. But they didn’t.”
Lisa Nandy
Britain Strengthens Military Surveillance Capabilities with Titania Satellite
The Government’s defence commitments come as Britain continues to expand its military capabilities, including investments in space-based surveillance and intelligence infrastructure.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced earlier the deployment of Titania, a new British military observation satellite designed to strengthen the armed forces’ ability to monitor military activities and potential threats across the globe.
Described as a new “pair of eyes” in orbit, the reconnaissance satellite weighs approximately 100kg and is roughly the size of a household washing machine.
It was launched from California in October aboard a reusable SpaceX rocket.
Titania follows the deployment of Tyche two years earlier, with both satellites expected to form part of a broader network of British military observation systems under the Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance Information (ISTARI) initiative.
The network will eventually include Juno, manufactured by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), and Oberon, developed by Airbus, alongside Titania, built by BAE Systems, and SSTL’s Tyche.
The Ministry of Defence has also introduced Project Inaros, an initiative involving trials of advanced ground-based sensors at three locations worldwide to improve Britain’s ability to monitor activity in space and protect its satellite infrastructure.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting described the developments as an important step towards strengthening Britain’s national security and military operations.
“The new space age is here. Space underpins everything from weather forecasts and financial transactions to sat-navs and mobile phone connections, and it is critical for our national security and military operations.”
Wes Streeting
He added, “having Titania now in orbit and Project Inaros stepping up how we watch over our satellites means we can see threats sooner, making the UK safer.”
Growing Security Threats in Space
The expansion of Britain’s military satellite network highlights growing concerns over the vulnerability of space infrastructure and the increasing strategic importance of activities beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Harv Smyth, Chief of the Air Staff, emphasised that the ability to observe Earth from space was essential to national resilience and military advantage.
He explained that Titania and Tyche, alongside the planned deployment of Juno and Oberon, would strengthen the armed forces’ ability to monitor developments and support military operations.
“The ability to observe the Earth from space is critical to both national resilience and military advantage. This will be demonstrated by Tyche and Titania, alongside Juno and Oberon in the years ahead.”
Sir Harv Smyth
Smyth added that Britain’s ground-based monitoring capabilities, including the Inaros sensors, would help protect the satellite network and ensure that the armed forces could operate effectively wherever required.
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