Rachel Reeves has been accused of resisting pleas to boost UK defence by tens of billions of pounds because of a row over gender equality.
The Chancellor has been accused of stalling major plans to pouring much needed money into the beleaguered Armed Forces because the Ministry of Defence does not employ enough women.
Ms Reeves is said to be resisting overtures to fill a £28billion black hole in the defence Budget, insisting the country can only afford £10billion, on top of savings of £3.5billion she wants military chiefs to make this year.
In discussions with the MoD she is said to have raised its poor record of ‘gender parity’ as a reason to withhold cash, something denied by the Treasury.
The government’s own statistics show that the MoD’s gender pay gap – showing the difference in average pay between male and female employees – was lower than the Treasury’s last year.
It came amid fears that Labour’s defence spending blueprint could appear almost a year late amid a major cabinet row over how to fund it.
Sir Keir was accused of handing control over the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) to the notoriously frugal Treasury in a move branded ‘an act of national suicide’ after Labour figures lined up to demand more cash.
The DIP was due to be published last autumn, but may not now appear before the summer despite growing pressure from across the political spectrum.
Conservative shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said: ‘It’s hard to believe that the Chancellor is denying the vital funding the MOD needs because there are too many men in the Army, but this story does underscore that we are now seeing a daily briefing war over the Defence Investment Plan (DIP).
‘What we know for certain is Labour have chosen to spend billions on benefits rather than properly fund our defence.
‘Politics is about priorities. If Labour were serious about Defence, they would take Kemi up on her offer to work together to find welfare savings.’
According to the Spectator, Ms Reeves asked military officials: ‘Why should we give money to a department that’s so far away from gender parity?’
Sir Keir’s spokesman refuses to comment on the ‘speculation’, telling reporters: ‘Our focus is on finalising the Defence Investment Plan and we are working on that as we speak.’
Britain’s first female chancellor has made no secret of her feminist views since entering No11.
Months after the 2024 election she ordered the removal of all pictures of men from the lavish state room.
The Chancellor announced that every painting in the room would be replaced by artworks of or by women in order to celebrate ‘amazing women who have gone before us’.
In November last year, before her second Budget, she hit out at people ‘mansplaining’ how she should do her job.
It came as a new poll suggested more than two-thirds (69 per cent) of Brits think the country is poorly prepared for a major conflict.
But the YouGov survey found voters are divided on whether to put more cash into defence.
Some 39 per cent of Brits said a defence spending boost was more important even if it meant cuts to public services, but 31 per cent said public services were more important.
The latter view was held by 60 per cent of supporters of Zack Polanski’s Green Party.
Starmer is said to have been told that he cannot release the plan before the May 7 local elections due to civil service impartiality rules.
That means that while it could come ion the narrow window between the election and the State Opening of Parliament later the same month, it is more likely to come in June at the earliest.
One source told the Times it could take even longer, raising fears that it might not appear before parliament’s summer break starts in July.
Three former defence secretaries have gone public with calls for the spending plan to be revealed as soon as possible, with money diverted from the welfare bill to pay for it.
Unite union leader Sharon Graham also weighed in last night, saying the delay was a ‘threat to national security’ – though she said the money should come from a wealth tax.
Sources were damning to the Spectator about the political impasse in Downing Street over funding, with new Cabinet Secretary Antonia Romeo failing to get the Treasury to have a rethink.
