Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis says the government has made "difficult but necessary" choices to find extra funding for the armed forces
It comes after PM Keir Starmer announced an additional £15bn of military spending, partly funded by cuts to transport and energy projects - more on where the money is coming from
Earlier, the long-awaited defence investment plan was published
The 80-page document includes details of £63bn for the nuclear deterrent and £11bn to replenish weapons and munitions sent to Ukraine - our security correspondent has more
How does the UK's defence spending compare to its Nato allies? BBC Verify crunches the numbers
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch calls the plan insufficient and "barely half what the armed forces say is needed", while Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey says it's "late and underfunded"
Image source, ReutersDefence Secretary Dan Jarvis is now speaking in the House of Commons to deliver his statement on today's defence investment plan.
We will be bringing you all of the key lines here and you can follow along by clicking watch live at the top of this page.
Image source, ReutersBritain's commitment to spend 5% of GDP on defence and national security by 2035 may be too late, Lithuania's defence minister says.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World at One programme, Robertas Kaunas says he thinks the UK is doing "what is necessary to meet capability targets" but says they should be "met on time".
"I'm not sure 2035 is the right date. In Lithuania, we think we should be ready by 2030," he says.
As a reminder, Nato members agreed to spend 5% of GDP on defence and security-related spending by 2035 - with 3.5% on strict defence spending and 1.5 per cent on national security.
For Lithuania, "5% by 2035 doesn't sound very ambitious," Kaunas says. He adds that Lithuania already spends 5.38% of GDP on core defence, in addition to 1.6% on wider security needs.
According to Starmer, the defence investment plan will bring UK spending on defence and national security as a percentage of GDP up to 4.2% - take a closer look at the league table of Nato spending here.
Joe Coughlan
Live reporter
Image source, PA MediaToday's funding towards the UK's defence systems will provide "short-term certainty" but "long-term uncertainty" to the country, according to a retired Royal Navy captain.
John Foreman tells me that he expects to see a variety of sectors within the armed forces faltering if more funding is not pledged towards running costs, including exercises, maintenance and equipment.
He says: "The armed forces are already struggling. They have got a little bit more money for running costs between now and 2030 but it's still not anywhere near enough."
Despite being unconvinced by the government's pledges as a whole, Foreman says he is encouraged by the plans towards strengthening the UK's nuclear deterrent and global combat air programme.
He adds: "That is what Russia fears, not a few drones here and there, but proper capabilities."
By Tom Edgington
Speaking about the government’s defence investment plan (DIP) earlier, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said an extra £15bn would be spent on the UK military, which he described as a “massive step forwards”.
But how does UK defence currently compare with its Western allies?
According to Nato estimates for 2025, every country in the alliance achieved the previous 2024 target of spending at least 2% of the size of their economy (measured by GDP) on defence.
Last year the UK spent 2.3% - putting it 14th among the 32-member alliance.
In cash terms, the US is still by far the single biggest spender on defence, spending about $980bn (£720bn) last year - 60% of the Nato total.
Nato members are now committed to spend 3.5% of GDP on core defence by 2035.
Speaking this morning, Starmer said defence spending would rise to 2.7% “putting us on a trajectory to reach 3% in the next parliament“.
However, he did not specify in which year defence spending is expected to reach 2.7% of GDP.
We’ll be able to go into more details about the proposed extra spending when the DIP is published in full - that’s expected to be this afternoon.
Yasmin Malik
BBC Newsbeat
Image source, Oliver TatlowToday's investment plan will affect Oliver Tatlow's job.
Tatlow, 22, is a systems engineer degree apprentice at Leonardo - a supplier of defence and security equipment to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
He says the threats facing the UK are "changing all the time", but that those working in the UK's defence need to be given "the best possible chance in that environment".
"What we do protects our people, who can then protect us," he says.
Tatlow has worked on the RAF’s Typhoon combat aircraft and is also studying a degree in electronic engineering.
He feels that people and recruitment are crucial to keeping the country safe, and that the UK needs "more apprentices and graduates coming into defence".
"We can prepare, we can react, but through all of that we need people."
Image source, ReutersPrime Minister Keir Starmer met Mark Rutte, Nato secretary-general, at No 10 yesterday
Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte says he welcomes the defence investment plan, arguing that "stronger UK defence makes us all safer".
Speaking shortly after Keir Starmer's speech, Rutte says the plan "is a good step towards reaching the 3.5% of GDP on defence agreed in The Hague last year".
He says defence spending and production will be "an important focus" at the Nato summit in Turkey next week.
It follows a meeting between Starmer and Rutte at No 10 yesterday, after which the Nato chief thanked the prime minister for "everything" he had done during his premiership.
Former British Army and Nato commander Hamish de Bretton-Gordon says "the key thing" in the defence investment plan is to fund a "change in warfare".
Speaking to Radio 5 Live's Nicky Campbell, he says increasingly, there are drones "directed by AI rather than sort of eyes on the ground".
"Doing insurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan, the sort of tank wars I fought in the first Gulf War to what we're seeing in Ukraine is very, very different," he says.
He adds it's important to "invest in new capabilities" that will provide "a conventional deterrence".
Bretton-Gordon believes Russia's invasion of Ukraine happened because when Vladimir Putin "looked west, there was not a conventional deterrence that worried him".
"So we now have to build one to prevent these sorts of things happening in future."
Image source, Getty ImagesThe UK's defence budget is being boosted "faster than any other major government department", the chancellor has said.
Speaking in a social media update after this morning's news conference, Rachel Reeves says that the demands on UK defence are "growing".
She repeats comments from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis that the country is "learning the lessons" of drone warfare from the war in Ukraine, adding that £400m will be spent on setting up a military defence system with partners.
The chancellor says: "UK security is our number one priority and this money will ensure that the UK can fight the wars of tomorrow, not the past."
Chris Mason
Political editor in Berkshire
Image source, ReutersHello from the drone manufacturing site in Berkshire where the prime minister has been speaking.
We are surrounded by the latest extraordinary aircraft — drones — some of which will soon be deployed in Ukraine.
A few things stand out to me from the prime minister:
The government has managed to find an extra £1.5bn in the last few weeks for its defence investment plan.
That in itself is quite something — we await the precise trade offs to explain how that was possible and why it took the resignation of the previous defence secretary John Healey to make it happen.
The other thing that struck me is this: the prime minister is quite a buttoned up character in public, but I could detect today a sense of unshackling, a sense of perspective, a sense that he wants to reflect in public on what he’s managed to achieve, and not, in office.
And — as he has regularly reflected — the brutal trade offs that confront any prime minister — and particularly so in an era of low economic growth, a high average tax burden, spiralling benefits bill and demands for vastly more for defence.
Squaring those circles isn’t remotely easy. Note how disparaging he was of the Liberal Democrat plan for defence bonds — which he dismissed as more borrowing ‘on the never never.’
The subtext to it all was this is mighty difficult — and it’ll soon, in all likelihood, be for Andy Burnham to wrestle with.
Image source, Getty ImagesPortsmouth naval base is set to upgraded under today's defence investment plan
Today's defence investment plan will be backed by £298bn of funding over the next four years, the Ministry of Defence has said, with key projects including:
Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent
We knew before Starmer spoke what the reaction to his speech would be from most rival political parties and leading defence figures, as well as some within the Labour fold: that this is not enough funding given the scale of the threat the UK faces.
Starmer nodded to the possibility that his successor may well have to come back before long with more defence spending when speaking about how this was a platform to be built on.
Throughout there was an implicit acknowledgement of the unusual reality that he is the prime minister unveiling this significant amount of defence spending but will not be the one to deliver it.
The PM also talked about the trade-offs of defence spending and how he has cut capital spending from other departments to spend money on defence. But he said that he did not want to cut spending on day-to-day public services, ie schools and hospitals.
This was an argument made by some government sources off the record in the aftermath of John Healey’s resignation, now made explicit.
Those are the thorny trade-offs that are going to be in Andy Burnham's in-tray before long.
Image source, ReutersFinally, Starmer is asked whether it is realistic to expect the UK to meet Donald Trump's target for Nato members to spend 5% of GDP on defence by 2035.
The prime minister says he spoke to the US president about the wars in Ukraine and Iran at the recent G7 summit, and to Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary-general, about the defence investment plan during a meeting at No 10 yesterday.
Referencing the 5% commitment by 2035, Starmer says the plan takes the UK to 4.2% of GDP on defence and national security - 0.8 per cent below the target, which was announced by Trump at Nato last year.
"I'll be very pleased to report that back to colleagues at Nato next week, they'll be very pleased to discuss that with us and I'm proud of the record I stand on in relation to defence and security as I go into that summit," Starmer says.
And with that he finishes his remarks and exits the stage. We'll bring you a recap of what was said shortly.
The prime minister is now asked about reports than £9bn set aside to improve military housing has now been reallocated to the defence investment plan itself, and is asked what his message is to military personnel.
Starmer says he is "proud" that his government has put "a lot of money into military housing" and wages.
He says the government will continue to support military personnel, but says that needs to be balanced "against investment in military capability that we need".
Image source, ReutersIt's put to Starmer that some former military chiefs and experts are arguing that the extra money for defence is not enough.
Starmer responds by saying the government's plans equate to the "highest sustained increase" since the Cold War.
"That's nearly half a century, the biggest sustained increase for nearly half a century.. that is a huge step forward," he says.
He adds that the plan has been "sharpened" even in recent weeks.
He says he respects those with "great experience" that do not believe the funding is enough, but says "there will always be those that say, whatever the sum is frankly, it's not enough".
He says it's his job to get it right, and says he is 100% confident in the plan.
Starmer is now asked whether Andy Burnham has seen the defence investment plan.
He avoids answering the question directly and says the plan sets out the capabilities of the UK military, what they will be and how they will be costed.
He says this is something any Labour prime minister would want to stand behind, and adds he will ensure the transition is "orderly".
Starmer is asked about the delays to the defence investment plan and how important Andy Burnham will be to its future - and if Burnham, likely to be the next PM, has given assurances on funding.
Starmer says "a test of any prime minister is if they leave the country in a better state than they've found it".
He says that is "undoubtedly the case" on the economy, public services and defence.
He adds this isn't just "measured" by money, but also that "other countries" look to the UK as "a leader in defence and security".
Starmer says for the future, he has "no doubt" that Labour will have a "number one committment" to defence and security.
The BBC's political editor Chris Mason asks Starmer about comments by Gen Sir Richard Barrons, who told BBC this morning that Britain is not keeping up with its allies or enemies in terms of defence capabilities.
Starmer says his government inherited an Army that was "hollowed out" and highlights his decision to boost defence spending prior to today's defence investment plan.
He says a further £15bn has been invested as part of today's plan before acknowledging that there "will always be those that argue that even more should be spent".
"I have to make the right judgements on the capabilities that I think is right for our country to meet the threats, not just of today but of tomorrow, and that is what this defence investment plan does," Starmer says.
"This is a massive step forward," he adds.
We're now moving on to questions, and the PM is asked if the plan contains enough to, by 2023, deter a fight with Russia, and win a conflict were there to be one.
"Yes I can," he says, "because of the increase in defence spending in place, announced last year" and the plan today building on that.
"We've learnt a lot from Ukraine, and Iran as well about the capability that is needed in order to confront countries like Russia," he says.
Starmer adds he's also confident because the UK is "working with our European allies".
"The UK needs to show a leadership role to be a trusted ally" he says, adding "I believe we have built that."
Starmer concludes his speech by saying he knows "we will continue to rise to this moment, not just to weather the coming storms, but to use this moment to reach to a better future".
He says the defence investment plan is "decisive step" towards reaching that goal.
The prime minister then moves on to questions from reporters who are in attendance in Berkshire.