The Defence Readiness Bill<\/a>, which ministers had said would be introduced this year, is now not expected to feature in the government\u2019s forthcoming legislative plans. <\/p>\n The Bill, recommended by the strategic defence review<\/a>, would make sure key industries prepare their workers in the event they were called up for war.<\/p>\n It comes despite growing instability amid the ongoing war in Iran, and repeated threats from Donald Trump to pull out of Nato. <\/p>\n Defence minister Lord Coaker said last year the Bill would be introduced at the beginning of 2026. But sources have now told The Times that the legislation it is not expected to feature in the King\u2019s Speech in May, which sets the agenda for the next session of Parliament.<\/p>\n Tan Dhesi, Labour chairman of the Commons Defence Select Committee, told the newspaper there were parallels with the defence investment plan, a long-delayed plan which will set out how the armed forces will order new equipment for war.<\/p>\n The repeated delays risk \u201csending damaging signals to adversaries and allies\u201d, the senior Labour MP said.<\/p>\n He added: \u201cIn this era of geopolitical tension and conflict, the Ministry of Defence needs to start moving much, much faster.\u201d<\/p>\n The UK has pledged to boost defence spending<\/a> to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027 in order to plug gaps in Britain\u2019s ailing military. It has also promised to raise spending to three per cent in the next Parliament \u201cwhen fiscal and economic conditions allow\u201d. <\/p>\n But amid increasing instability in the Middle East, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and questions over the robustness of the Nato alliance there are now growing calls for Britain to move quicker in bolstering its defences. <\/p>\n It comes after a former top military commander<\/a> warned last week that the British army<\/a> is so depleted it could only \u201cseize a small market town on a good day\u201d. <\/p>\n Giving a damning assessment of the military<\/a>, General Sir Richard Barrons, who was one of the authors of the strategic defence review, warned that none of the services could do \u201canything substantial\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe armed forces <\/a>that we have now, because of their size, but also because of their sophistication, can make a very small contribution on land, in the air and at sea, to an enterprise either led by the US or more likely a Nato<\/a> undertaking. What it cannot do is anything substantial,\u201d he told the BBC.<\/p>\n![\"Defence](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/118977613ceedf38f1ba163e18679ff9Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc0NjAyNjgz-2.83929494.jpg\")
Defence Secretary John Healey (Toby Shepheard\/PA) (PA)<\/p>\n![\"President](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Trump-Iran-US-qu1g4x16.jpeg\")
President Donald Trump walks from the Blue Room to speak about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington (AP)<\/p>\n