Budget 2026: Labour condemned over ‘shameful’ £2billion defence raid in Budget: ‘Penny-pinching our military!’

His predecessor, Rachel Reeves, set the MoD’s budget as £73.8billion in 2027/28 and £76.5billion in 2028/29 in Labour’s defence investment plan.

Mr Healey insisted the Government will aim to spend three per cent of economic output on defence by 2030, but said a plan to meet the target will not be put forward until next year’s spending review.

He told the House of Commons yesterday: “This year, our defence budget is £14billion higher than it was in the Conservatives’ last year of Government.

“At the spending review next year, I confirm that I will set out the details of how we will meet our Nato commitment to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2035, with a target date for three per cent in 2030.

“And today I am getting work under way to get there in a fiscally sustainable way.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch slammed the Chancellor’s proposals as a “plan to have a plan”, as her party branded changes to the MoD budget a £2billion “cut”.

She said: “He should have set out a plan for three per cent today. So now he is the man who is increasing risk to personnel on operations, he is the man who is making our country less safe, he has failed his own test.

“This is on him and no-one will ever forget. If he had any decency he would resign again today.

“What he’s done is he’s given himself a bit of breathing space until next year. Instead what we have is a plan to have a plan. I bet (Vladimir) Putin’s really scared now.”

Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge, meanwhile, accused the Chancellor of “penny-pinching our military”.

The Tory frontbencher accused Mr Healey of presiding over a “complete dereliction of duty”.

Liberal Democrat defence spokesman James MacCleary described the move as “shameful” and warned it will “leave our troops worse off and undermine our security”.

Treasury officials have insisted the £2billion difference to the MoD budget over the next two years is not a “cut”, but a technical adjustment.

They confirmed that existing pensions recipients were shielded, and said the change would not adversely impact the department’s spending power.

Tan Dhesi, Labour chairman of the Commons Defence Select Committee, expressed disappointed over the Chancellor’s failure to set out a “precise pathway” to increasing defence spending to three per cent of GDP.

“Instead, some of the key decisions on defence spending have lamentably been delayed until next year’s spending review,” he fumed.

Warning there is a “cost to inaction”, Mr Dhesi said: “Investment in our nation’s defence and security cannot be kicked into the long grass.

“Our adversaries are not bound by fiscal years and spending cycles.

“We need to urgently rebuild our capabilities now, or we risk leaving ourselves seriously vulnerable in the event of a major conflict.”