Artist's impression of the Dreadnought-class submarine (Picture: MOD). — Artist's impression of the Dreadnought-class submarine replacing the Vanguard capability (Picture: MOD).

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£24bn pledged for defence is 'gone' and didn't 'hit the sides', PM told

Boris Johnson has been told tens of billions pledged to defence over four years in late 2020 has already been used, as calls to reverse cuts to numbers and tanks continue.

In a Liaison Committee exchange, Chair of the Defence Committee Tobias Ellwood MP told the under-fire Prime Minister the additional £16.5bn – a real-terms increase of £24bn alongside a previously declared £7bn pledged by 2024-25 – had already been allocated to replacing the four Vanguard-class submarines forming the UK's strategic nuclear deterrent force.

"It's been spent already. It's gone," said Mr Ellwood, adding that "the money didn't even hit the sides".

Dreadnought-class submarines will enable the UK deterrent programme to continue, the first of four scheduled to enter service in the early 2030s with £10bn recently pledged to the third phase of development alone.

Mr Ellwood's comments followed his renewed pressure on the UK leader to reverse plans to cut tank numbers and to restore an armoured vehicle capability "to do dismounted infantry" after the UK scrapped the Warrior programme.

Both referenced the ongoing war in Ukraine, Mr Johnson pointing toward evidence that anti-tank weapons such as the NLAW (Next generation Light Anti-tank Weapon) are of acute importance in light of a growing Russian threat.

The back-and-forth saw Mr Ellwood "beg" for £40m to reverse cuts to Army manpower from a target size of 82,000 to 72,500 by 2025.

Watch: Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has already expressed concern on NLAW weapon stocks.

Mr Johnson acknowledged the importance of personnel but turned again to the importance of "having the best possible equipment" – to which Mr Ellwood responded by saying the UK is "hollowing out" services at a crucial moment in history.

Replacement programmes are on the horizon for British capabilities, although some of those, like the Ajax land vehicle, have run into cost and timeframe trouble.

Meanwhile, separate concerns have been raised on how MLRS (Multi Launch Rocket Systems), NLAW and other capability stocks provided to Ukrainian forces can be replenished to pre-Russian invasion levels – the Prime Minister was adamant in Wednesday's committee session that NLAWs are being replaced.

Mr Johnson appeared before the Liaison Committee as he struggled to keep a grip on power following 35 resignations from his Government in 24 hours and repeated calls from his Tory MPs for him to stand down.