Defence plan will ensure UK is ready for war, minister says

The government will invest billions of pounds to move the UK to “war-fighting readiness” in the face of a new era of threats from nuclear powers like Russia and China, the defence secretary has said.

The government has accepted all 62 recommendations set out in a long-awaited Strategic Defence Review (SDR), including building 12 new nuclear-powered submarines, six new munitions factories and embracing technologies like artificial intelligence.

Britain’s army needs to become “10 times more lethal” to face a “new era of threats”, John Healey told MPs on Monday.

Conservative shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge called the plans a “damp squib”, which was “underfunded and totally underwhelming”.

The SDR, carried out by former Labour Defence Sectary Lord Robertson, found…