Keir Starmer defends uncertainty over defence spending target June 2, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has defended not setting a precise date for when the UK will deliver its “ambition” to spend three per cent of GDP on defence. The Prime Minister is facing backlash after the government appeared to row back from an important target ahead of Monday’s strategic defence review announcement. Starmer told the BBC [...]
Defence review a response to ‘world of growing threats,’ says Healey June 1, 2025 The strategic defence review will send a “message to Moscow” amid daily Russian cyber attacks on the UK, the defence secretary John Healey has said. “This is a message to Moscow as well. This is Britain standing behind, making our armed forces stronger but making our industrial base stronger, and this is part of our readiness to fight, if [...]
Ukrainian girl killed and another hurt in Russian missile attack May 31, 2025 A Russian missile has hit a front-line region in Ukraine, killing a child and injuring another, as uncertainty remains as to whether Kyiv diplomats will attend a new round of peace talks proposed by Moscow for early next week in Istanbul. Russian troops launched some 109 drones and five missiles across Ukraine overnight and into [...]
North Sea windfall tax causing ‘irreversible damage’ says oil giant May 27, 2025 The boss of Enquest has slammed the windfall tax on oil and gas firms as doing “irreversible damage” to the industry and “driving job losses across the sector”. Amjad Bseisu, Enquest’s chief executive, called for the North Sea tax to be scrapped in an operations update on Tuesday after claiming it makes the UK a [...]
Qinetiq shares soar after £1.5bn extension to Ministry of Defence deal May 22, 2025 Qinetiq, the FTSE 250 defence contractor, has announced a £1.5bn extension to its partnership deal with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD). The Farnborough-based firm said on Thursday it will extend its Long Term Partnering Agreement (LTPA) with the government by five years to 2033. Qinetiq’s LTPA contract provides UK armed forces with test and [...]
European leaders talk of war, but I keep getting out of offices May 20, 2025 Europe talks a hard game on defence, so why is the ministry of defence more concerned with horse dentists, asks Michael Martins.
Defence boom will continue long after Ukraine war, says Panmure May 19, 2025 An end to hostilties in Ukraine would only be a short-term setback for the share price of European defence manufacturers, according to analysts. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (ISS) said last week that in the case of a mid-2025 ceasefire in Ukraine, Russia could rearm and attack a Baltic state as soon as 2027. [...]
Britain’s space launch programme could be thwarted by NATO May 19, 2025 Aspirations of UK space launch will soon collide with the new geopolitical realities of global security, writes Susan Walton.
Centrica: Major gas facility to shut without government help May 18, 2025 The boss of Centrica – which owns British Gas – has warned the UK’s largest natural gas storage facility will be “decommissioned” unless the government steps in. Speaking on BBC Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, company boss Chris O’Shea called for the government to underwrite the business’ investments in the Rough facility near the East Yorkshire [...]
UK condemns Russian drone strike that left nine dead in Ukraine May 17, 2025 The UK has condemned a Russian drone attack that killed nine people in Ukraine early on Saturday. The attack, which struck a passenger bus in Ukraine’s north-eastern Sumy region, came just hours after the first face-to-face talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he was “appalled” by the [...]