New UK defence secretary meets Nato allies without investment plan in place

Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis said he is meeting his Nato counterparts at a "moment of challenge", as he arrived in Brussels without the UK's long-term military spending plan.

Nato General Secretary Mark Rutte has urged the alliance's members to present "clear, concrete and credible plans" for how they will raise defence spending ahead of a summit on 7 July.

But Jarvis arrived in the Belgian capital with details of the UK's long-delayed defence investment plan (DIP) yet to be published, amid warnings from defence chiefs of the need for more cash.

His predecessor John Healey resigned last week and warned the DIP "falls well short" of what is needed to protect the UK.

The UK government has vowed to increase defence spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035, in line with Nato commitments.

But Healey said the DIP presented to him only set out "a rise at 0.08% from next year to 2030", with "no date for reaching 3%, no path to 3.5%".

The plan was "backloaded" when the need to "speed up readiness to fight is in the first two years," he said in his resignation letter.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the chief of the defence staff, echoed the concerns as he warned the armed forces will have to "dial back" training and operations if they do not receive more cash than is currently being offered.