Read More There was an air of melancholy as the defence investment plan (Dip) was announced at Malloy Aeronautics in Maidenhead. A sense that the main figures were fading out of history even as the legacy was being written, as if the event were sepia-tinted.The Dip was supposed to be Keir Starmer’s lasting bequest to the country. His gift to an ungrateful nation. And if it is to be his swansong, it couldn’t be more Keir if it tried: something that manages not to satisfy any of the major players involved – the military, nor our allies – and probably not even Keir himself. The story of his time in government.First to speak was Dan Jarvis, the defence secretary for these past few weeks since the resignation of his predecessor. He conveniently forgot to point out that the extra £1.5bn he had managed to extract from the Treasury still fell well short of the bare minimum John Healey had said was required to fulfil the UK’s commitments to Nato at the speed the military wanted. Maybe he was just hoping no one would notice. Or was a bit pushed for time. He was reportedly asked to cut the bit he had wanted to say about the chief of staff backing the Dip. Because he apparently doesn’t.Instead, Jarvis chose to look on the bright side. The shininess of the new kit for the armed services. The excitement over more drone capacity. We would now be ready for any kind of modern warfare. Except for one that involved warfare. “I will seek to do everything I can for the military,” he concluded. Though he might not have that choice. He is reportedly desperate to stay on as defence secretary in the Burnham government, but Andy may have other ideas.Rachel Reeves was rather more sanguine about her future. “In my two years as chancellor …” she said. She has come to accept there won’t be a third. By reprioritising spending, she had come up with the £15bn defence uplift and she paid tribute to Jarvis for his part in the negotiations. Mostly for not causing any further embarrassment by being the second defence secretary to resign when she didn’t give him the money he wanted. Dan had been a lot easier to work with. Less grumpy, more personable. She ended by thanking Keir – “my friend, our prime minister” – for his moral clarity. It had looked as if they had fallen out last week. Now they seemed reconciled to going down with the same ship.This was clearly not a moment to talk about past divisions. Merely to focus on a brilliant future. Starmer also made little mention of the fact that the Dip had been first expected almost a year ago and had been repeatedly delayed because ministers had been unable to reach an agreement. Until the arrival of the more amiable Dan. Instead, Keir focused on the changing nature of warfare. The peace dividend was over. The world was a lot less safe than it used to be. To avoid war, you had to prepare for war.Just that there were limits. You could be too prepared. “The hard truth,” said Keir, “is that there are no easy
