'Pre-Christmas' Defence Investment Plan has been delayed, defence minister reveals

The Defence Investment Plan has been delayed, a defence minister has revealed, following a written question in Parliament by a shadow defence minister.   

Luke Pollard, the Defence Readiness and Industry Minister, previously told BFBS Forces News that the plan would be released by Christmas; however, no date has been given following this revelation.

The Defence Investment Plan (DIP) took the place of the Defence Equipment Plan, which was an investment plan giving more details of the capabilities and numbers that the Ministry of Defence hopes to procure and support in the next decade, according to the House of Commons Library. 

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"We are working flat out between now and the end of the year to finalise the Defence Investment Plan," Mr Pollard said, in response to a question asking when the DIP is likely to be published by Mark Francois, his Conservative Party counterpart. 

"I am sure the Honourable Gentleman will appreciate the scale of the decisions that we need to make. 

"He will also appreciate the scale of the problems we face, including those to do with a programme of the last government's that overcommitted, and was underfunded and unsuited to meeting the threats that we will face in the future."

This latest Ministry of Defence delay comes as the crisis surrounding Ajax, the British Army's new £5.5bn armoured fighting vehicle, rumbled on after the department said that another soldier had been injured while operating the vehicle last week. 

Defence Secretary John Healey said the investment plan will be released "as soon as we can," without giving a firm date, in an interview with BFBS Forces News' Sofie Cacoyannis. 

"We'll obviously report it and publish it first to Parliament," Mr Healey said. "That's the proper thing for an elected government."

The DIP is part of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, which outlined the Government's plans for military spending to help meet the threats posed to the UK in the coming years. 

Additional reporting by Sofie Cacoyannis.