The announcement comes after Reeves wrote to every cabinet minister in charge of a spending department to “buy British” wherever possible.<\/p>\n
The letter highlighted key sectors – shipbuilding, steel, AI and energy infrastructure – where the government will focus on British investment.<\/p>\n
But Reeves said there needed to be a fundamental shift in spending across the board, with current global tensions showing the need for resilience in critical sectors.<\/p>\n
Last week, defence trade association ADS said British businesses were “really struggling” as they await the outcome of the government’s defence investment plan.<\/p>\n
“We have seen firms either moving out of the sector or changing direction and it will continue, no question about that,” ADS chief executive Kevin Craven told the BBC.<\/p>\n
Last month Aeralis, a British aerospace company that was developing a replacement for the famous Red Arrows fighter jet, went into administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n The administrators said the company had faced “a sustained period of pressure” on its cashflow after “continued delays to the UK defence investment plan, combined with geopolitical factors affecting sources of funding”.<\/p>\n The defence investment plan was initially expected to be published in autumn 2025.<\/p>\n Last week, Healey said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was “determined to publish” the spending plan before a Nato summit next month.<\/p>\n