Civil service sources have said that budgets to modernise the armed forces are set to be slashed (Image: Getty)
The Labour Party has been issued a stark warning over claims Sir Keir Starmer could slash millions from the Armed Forces' budget.
Yesterday, The Telegraph reported that senior figures within the Civil Service had been informed of the proposed cuts to the budgets for science and technology and research and development which could amount to hundreds of millions of pounds this financial year.
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However, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has denied claims that the new Labour government is set to slash its research and development (R&D) budget by as much as 20 percent.
A spokesperson for the MOD suggested that the source had seen a provisional figure but not one on which any decision had been made.
The spokesperson said: "These claims are incorrect; this Government will secure Britain’s defences for the future while increasing defence spending to 2.5% of GDP as soon as possible.
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"We remain on course to spend over ￡6.6bn on research and development during this spending review period and we remain committed to the development of satellite-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities."
READ MORE: Army boost as soldiers to get new high-tech kit with lasers and drones
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The reports come amidst a refusal by Labour to commit to raising defence spending from 2.2 percent to 2.5 percent of GDP, something that the previous Conservative government had pledged to do by 2030.
In the run-up to the General Election last month, Labout committed to spending 2.5 percent on defence "as soon as possible, securing our country’s future, and getting the best value for money for British taxpayers."
Thus far, Labour has committed to doing so only "when the economic conditions allow".
Concerns have been raised over Labour’s refusal to set a target date for the increase in spending.
Former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: "Unless Rachel Reeves commits to 2.5 percent of GDP with a timeline, the cuts to R&D [research and development] will be a drop in the ocean compared to what will happen to the rest of the defence budget. They are facing massive cuts."
The potential cuts would come at a time when the Armed Forces are struggling to adapt to a modernising battlefield, where research in new technology is vital if Britain is to maintain a strategic advantage over its adversaries.
Keir Starmer's Labour government has refused to commit to a date to increase defence spending (Image: Getty)
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Drones, 3D printers and AI are just some of the areas that the armed forces have explored recently (Image: Getty)
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Future technologies such as drones, and unmanned vehicles are just some of the areas that the MOD have invested money and resource in exploring in recent years.
One Army Officer who recently worked in the development of deployable 3D printers to quickly repair armoured vehicles told the Express: "We have done so much work to not only develop these technologies but to understand how they can be used effectively on a modern battlefield.
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"In order to be successful, we need to be given time to explore developing tech, time to test and adjust and time to implement – all of this costs money but it would pay off in the long term."
The new Labour government is in the process of conducting a strategic defence review which is not expected to conclude until the middle of 2025.
In the interim, military planners, Civil Servants and defence contractors are left in limbo, unsure of how to predict the appetite for defence spending in the short and medium term, with MOD decision makers now unable to sign off contracts of more than ￡50,000 without ministerial approval.