Benefits budget spared the axe as Keir Starmer launches 'Cabinet whip-round' in desperate bid to secure his legacy on defence spending

By JASON GROVES, POLITICAL EDITOR and MARK NICOL, DEFENCE EDITOR Published: 22:43, 8 June 2026 | Updated: 22:43, 8 June 2026 Ministers have ruled out cuts to Britain's bloated benefits budget to raise money to shore up Britain's creaking defences. Government sources said welfare would be spared from a 'Cabinet whip-round' designed to raise money for the UK's cash-strapped armed forces.  Keir Starmer has ordered departments to stump up an average one per cent of their capital budgets to help raise £6 billion towards the cost of the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan. The raid could hit school and hospital programmes as well as delaying transport infrastructure projects. But government sources said the huge sickness benefits bill – which is forecast to rise by £30 billion by the end of the decade – would be spared from what has been dubbed a last-minute 'Cabinet whip-round'. Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said the decision to spare welfare had contributed to delays and made it harder to raise the cash needed to protect the UK. 'For month after month, we've been calling on the Prime Minister to show the leadership the country needs - by cutting welfare to fund defence,' he said. 'That's why we set out our plans to restore the two-child benefit cap and use the savings for our armed forces. But it's also why Kemi Badenoch has repeatedly offered to work with the Government, in the national interest, to find further welfare savings to boost our defence budget. 'The fact Starmer is still unable to make any savings from welfare is the single reason why the Defence Investment Plan is so overdue, a total failure of leadership in such a dangerous world. Our country and our armed forces deserve better.' All at sea: Keir Starmer has struggled  for months to finalise the Defence Investment Plan Downing Street said it was taking a long-term approach to welfare reform rather than trying to make short-term savings. The PM's spokesman said: 'The best way to cut the welfare budget is to get people back to work and fix a system that has been broken for far too long.' Government sources said the Prime Minister is 'moving heaven and earth' to get the plan published this week following an embarrassing series of delays. He is said to be desperate to take credit for the boost in defence spending ahead of next week's Makerfield by-election, which could trigger the end of his premiership. But sources said a number of key decisions remain unresolved. The plan is designed to provide the funding to implement the strategic defence review which was published more than a year ago. Ministers originally promised it would be published last autumn but it has been mired in Whitehall infighting for months. The Prime Minister was warned last year of a £28 billion shortfall in funding in defence funding. The Treasury has deemed the bill unaffordable and is now trying to cut back a 'compromise' figure from £18 billion to £15 billion. Former Navy chief Admiral Lord West branded the process a 'shambleds' on Monday. Lord West, a former Labour security minister, warned that the UK's defence sector and armed forces are 'teetering on the brink of disaster due to lack of investment over years and 'lack of decisions recently about spending the money that is apparently being released for defence'. Referring to the D-Day commemorations at the weekend, the Labour peer added: 'Things like fighting in Normandy happen when you do not have sufficient defence forces and deterrence fails – and that is the position we have got ourselves into.' Former Tory cabinet minister Lord Harper questioned whether 'what can only be described as a Cabinet whip-round to pay for the defence investment plan sends the right message to adversaries' like Vladimir Putin. Defence minister Lord Coaker said the PM had now promised to publish the plan before next month's Nato summit. In the meantime, he insisted the UK's cash-strapped forces were doing their best, telling peers: 'Of course, there is a need for more investment, more readiness and more capability, but we are taking action with the resources we have now to defend our country as well and as much as we can.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. 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