David OliverThe long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP) published at the end of June this year was supposed to implement the recommendations of the UK Government’s 2025 Strategic Defence Review’s vision for UK defence, but three weeks later all that changed. The UK had a new Prime Minister and a new Defence Minister, whose predecessor, John Healey, had resigned over what he saw as the lack of funding for a sustainable DIP. This will be offset by £ 680 million investment in the Leonardo AW149 New Medium Helicopter and planned future purchases of newer Chinooks. Here again, there is no direct funding for a comprehensive programme for defending the UK from ballistic missile attacks. It also has to heed the warning from the government’s own National Infrastructure & Service Transformation Authority that in 2025, of 47 major defence investment spending projects, only three were rated “green”, meaning likely to be successfully delivered on time and of the right quality!