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- Jarvis replaced by Wes Streeting in cabinet reshuffle
- Jarvis served just 40 days—the shortest on record
- Streeting becomes sixth Defence Secretary in the past seven years
The UK has moved to replace Secretary of State for Defence, Dan Jarvis, for former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, as the latest prime ministerial incumbent in Number 10, Andy Burnham, completes a cabinet reshuffle.
In doing so, Jarvis has become the shortest-serving UK Defence Secretary in history, occupying the role for just 40 days following the resignation of his predecessor John Healey, who has been appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer.
There have now been six different Defence Secretary’s in the past seven years, spanning administrations from Labour and Conservative governments.
Jarvis was made Defence Secretary amid the chaos of the Defence Investment Plan (DIP), which had been beset by year-long delays as ministers sought to cover a funding black hole.
In the end, Healey resigned his post, complaining that the DIP package failed to provide enough for the UK Ministry of Defence. His successor, Jarvis, purportedly secured a small increase in DIP funding before it was finally published at the end of June.
The DIP dramatically cut the planned Type 83 air defence destroyers from the Royal Navy, existing Wildcat helicopters from the British Army, and R1 Shadow intelligence aircraft operated by the Royal Air Force.
In their place, according to the DIP, will come uncrewed platforms at a lower price point than their crewed counterparts. This reasoning is patchy at best, with much of the technology required to fulfil this transformation not yet in existence.
Posting on social media after taking office, the Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said that the government would “ensure our armed forces have the resources they need”.
Streeting has no experience in defence, having been involved in politics from his university days, becoming a London Councillor in 2010 before winning a seat in Parliament in 2015.
The UK has fallen down the list of Nato’s leading defence spenders as a proportion of national GDP and has resorted to adding in elements like the Single Intelligence Account in order to reach the current 2.6% spend.
This will rise to 2.68% with the financial settlement from the DIP, but vast swathes of this are being directed towards nuclear recapitalisation including new warheads, ballistic missile submarines, and investment in nuclear infrastructure.
In terms of conventional defence spending, the UK reaches more like 1.6% of GDP, a figure that better explains the dire state of much of the British military, particularly in the naval domain.
"UK Government makes history with new Defence Secretary" was originally created and published by Naval Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.
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