Prospect calls for higher defence spending and reforms at New Statesman security conference
Sue Ferns OBE, Prospect Senior Deputy General Secretary, made a strong case for greater defence spending and the urgent need for the government to publish its long-delayed Defence Investment Plan while speaking at the New Statesman Conference on Security and Resilience in central London on Wednesday, 5 May.
Sue Ferns speaking at the New Statesman Security and Resilience Conference 2026 (Photo: New Statesman)
A more unstable world — the Ukrainian conflict on Europe’s borders, Russian aggression such as attacking undersea power cables, the US attacks on Iran and traditional alliances fracturing — was the context for the necessity of greater defence spending.
“The period of the ‘peace dividend’ is over. We live in a more dangerous and uncertain world. The price of peace, achieved through effective deterrence, has gone up,” Ferns said.
She pointed to polling by More in Common in 2024 that showed strong public support for an increase in defence spending to safeguard Britain’s national security. Sustained and more recent conflicts are only likely to have reinforced such views.
Government’s faltering defence policy
While the government was credited with delivering on its promise of a major Strategic Defence Review, Ferns criticised the repeated delays to the Defence Investment Plan, which was now prolonging industry uncertainty and putting investment at risk.
The government also needed to do better on procurement reform.
‘Cheapest price does not always deliver value,’ said Ferns, who highlighted the deployment of HMS Dragon to the Middle East, which was hampered by a contract restricting overtime working.
Prospect had warned that the contract would be problematic during a real-world crisis, and so it proved when the US attacked Iran. It was only our members working flat out to get the ship deployed, which brought an end to the negative headlines.
On industrial strategy, Ferns said that the Defence Industrial Joint Council, a body that includes government, industry and trade unions, needed to produce a workforce plan, similar to a model in the energy sector, that delivers a pipeline of skilled workers and good jobs with benefits for local communities and regions.
Applying and considering social value criteria in its procurement reforms and collaboration with Europe on defence, however challenging it may be, were other areas highlighted by Prospect’s Senior Deputy General Secretary.
The remarks were made on a panel session debating, ‘Reform, innovate and improve: How can we fix defence procurement?’
Panel debate at the New Statesman Security and Resilience Conference 2026 (Photo: New Statesman)
The other speakers on the panel were:
- Air Marshal Edward Stringer CB CBE, Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange
- Andrew O’Brien, Head of Secretariat, Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods
- Jade Azim, Head of Policy and Advocacy, Good Growth Foundation
- Rachel Cunliffe, Associate Political Editor, New Statesman
More on the New Statesman Security and Resilience Conference 2026.
