New defence secretary Dan Jarvis signals he's pushing for extra money for armed forces

Dan Jarvis, the new defence secretary, signalled he is pushing for extra money for the armed forces and aims to publish a defence investment plan but not "at any cost".

It is understood that a decision by his predecessor, John Healey, to quit over a failure by Sir Keir Starmer and his chancellor to find sufficient additional funding has had an impact on discussions.

However it is not clear what that might mean in terms of the size of any additional uplift.

The government is thought to have been seeking to release the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan on Monday but that date appeared in doubt as discussions continue between the Ministry of Defence and the Treasury.

Dan Jarvis said he wants the document released - as the outgoing prime minister has promised - ahead of a major NATO summit in Tukey on 7 and 8 July.

But this would mean Andy Burnham, or whoever replaces Mr Starmer, would not have had the chance to endorse what is a fundamental piece of UK government policy - the plan to defend the nation and be ready for a potential war by 2030.

Addressing an annual army conference in London, Mr Jarvis said: "My priority is to get the defence investment plan done, but not at any cost. I have a responsibility to get it right."

Asked whether he was seeking additional funding and - if he did not succeed - whether he would delay publication until a new prime minister takes office, the defence secretary said: "I want to do right by defence, I want to do right by industry, and I want to honour the commitments that the prime minister and I have made about doing this prior to the Ankara summit."

He said that he was "working very closely with my colleagues in government, with the prime minister, and with the chancellor".

Mr Jarvis described having had "very good and constructive meetings" with Rachel Reeves over the past few days.

"I am determined to secure the best possible deal that I can, and I'm determined to do that sooner rather than later."

But there is a clear question of time, with the summit barely two weeks away and with Mr Starmer then handing over to his successor as soon as 17 July.

"Time is not my friend, because we've got to do this well in advance of going to Ankara, and that is what I'm aiming to do," Mr Jarvis said.

"But I'm also aiming to get it right and make sure that we've got the resource that we need and the right mix of capabilities to demonstrate that international leadership to our allies and most importantly make sure that our people in defence have got the resources that they need and that they understand that we will invest in them for the longer term.

"That is my job. That is a job I take very, very seriously. That is a job that I am determined to succeed."

Mr Healey and Al Carns, the armed forces minister, resigned from government almost two weeks ago in protest at a failure to fund the defence investment plan sufficiently.

In particular, Mr Healey was seeking a commitment to lift defence spending to 3% of GDP from just over 2.3% by 2030 - a move that would unlock tens of billions of additional money.

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The UK is committed - along with its NATO allies - to increasing the spending target to 3.5% by 2035 but has yet set out a clear trajectory for this boost.

It is something that Mr Jarvis also appeared keen to address.

"I want to demonstrate to our allies that, as they have been able to previously, they can look to us for leadership in this area," he said.

"The backstop is 3.5% by 2035.

"In truth, it's in the normal order of things, spending reviews that chart those kind of major spending commitments, but those conversations are well underway with the chancellor, and they will no doubt continue for the next day or two."

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