Former NATO leader Lord George Robertson, who authored the government’s Strategic Defence Review, has warned that Britain’s security is “in peril” and accused political leaders of corrosive complacency toward defence. In a speech to be delivered on Tuesday, he also targeted so‑called non‑military experts in the Treasury, whom he described as vandalising the SDR’s aims. He argues that the government’s plan to publish a ten‑year defence investment programme to fund the SDR’s vision has been repeatedly delayed, and a spokesperson stressed that the strategy is backed by the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War, with more than £270 billion being invested across this Parliament.

In a direct political intervention, Robertson will say that Britain cannot defend itself with an ever‑growing welfare budget. Speaking in Salisbury, the former Labour defence secretary will warn: “We are underprepared. We are underinsured. We are under attack. We are not safe… Britain’s national security and safety is in peril.” He will add that there is corrosive complacency today in Britain’s political leadership, with lip service paid to threats and risk signals, and that even a promised national conversation about defence cannot be started.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously said the investment plan is on his desk and being finalised. A defence official highlighted the government’s target to spend 3% of GDP on defence by the end of the next Parliament. A government spokesperson said: “We are delivering on the Strategic Defence Review to meet the threats we face.”

There is ongoing debate about NATO members’ defence commitments as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has intensified scrutiny of allied spending. The head of the British armed forces told the BBC last month that he rejected claims Britain was ill‑prepared for the current Middle East conflict, which began on 28 February with a joint US‑Israeli attack on Iran, describing it as probably the most dangerous period in the last 30 years. Some have questioned the UK’s response, including the decision to send a Royal Navy ship to Cyprus to protect the UK military base RAF Akrotiri, which was targeted by a drone attack.

Keir Starmer remains a central figure as the UK weighs how to balance defence needs with other commitments while NATO allies face similar pressures. 

 Welsh Liberal Democrats to unveil manifesto for next Senedd election. 2 hours ago. David DeansWales political reporter. Getty Images. The Welsh Liberal Democrats will launch their party’s manifesto for the Senedd election on Tuesday morning.. Leader Jane Dodds has promised to protect the NHS by investing £300m in social care, extra help for childcare, and to ensure that “not a penny” is spent on moves towards Wales leaving the United Kingdom.. The party is hoping to improve on 2021’s result, when Dodds was returned as the only Welsh Liberal Democrat with a Senedd seat.. Voters across Wales go to the polls to elect 96, up from 60, new Senedd members on 7 May.. Despite only having one member of the Senedd, Jane Dodds has been involved in budget negotiations with the Welsh government in the past and says she would be willing to do so again.. The politician secured a greyhound racing ban, more money for childcare and discount bus travel in 2025’s round of budget talks.. However the Welsh Liberal Democrat leader has warned that in return for her support no cash should be spent on moving towards Welsh independence.. That would potentially rule a deal out with Plaid Cymru, which is vying to win the election with Reform and has pledged to establish a national committee to begin preparing the case for independence, costing £500,000.. The Welsh Lib Dems have promised a universal childcare package of 30 hours a week, covering 48 weeks of the year, for all children from nine months to four years old.. Dodds’ party has vowed to clear up Wales’ rivers and seas, with extra funding for Natural Resources Wales and a ban on bonuses for water company bosses until sewage discharges end.. The party has had a fight on its hands to stay on the Welsh political stage over the last decade, having fallen to a single MS in 2016.. Dodds, a former MP, was elected to the Senedd for the first time in 2021 but remained the parliament’s only Liberal Democrat.. She says the party could win five seats – which would be enough to form an official Senedd group.. Welsh Lib Dem leader apologises for missing crucial vote as she defends Senedd attendance record. Vote for Lib Dems a ‘bolt against division’, says leader Jane Dodds. What does the Senedd do?. How the new Senedd voting system works. What is my constituency?. Is there an election in my area?. Welsh Liberal Democrats. Wales. Welsh Parliament election 2026. UK elections 2026. Liberal Democrats 

 Chris Mason: How Lammy and Vance’s unlikely friendship is being leveraged. 2 hours ago. Chris MasonPolitical editor. X/David Lammy. For weeks now, there has been a barrage of barbs from Donald Trump aimed at the prime minister and Sir Keir Starmer has notched up his public criticisms of the US president.. But the fascinating relationship between the two men’s deputies continues to flourish, it seems.. David Lammy, who spends a fair amount of his time overseeing prisons in England and Wales as justice secretary, is also the deputy prime minister and has flown to Washington to meet America’s Vice-President, JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in separate meetings at the White House.. Each meeting lasted around 45 minutes.. The talks focused on the wars in the Middle East and in Ukraine.. You might reasonably expect these meetings to involve the foreign secretary, the job Lammy used to do before the role was given to Yvette Cooper.. But no, it is Lammy’s relationship with the vice-president the government has sought to leverage.. The unlikely friendship between the deputy prime minister and the vice-president began when Lammy was an opposition MP and Vance had just been elected to the US Senate.. Last summer the vice-president and his family stayed with Lammy at his grace and favour home, Chevening, in Kent, during a summer holiday visit to the UK.. Posting on X, Lammy wrote that it was “great to catch up with my friend JD Vance today in DC following his talks in Pakistan.”. Above a picture of the two men shaking hands, he added: “it is vital that the ceasefire continues and we get shipping flowing freely again through the Straits of Hormuz. We continue to work together towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”. The meetings come on the same day that the prime minister repeated his criticism of Trump’s language last week, when he threatened Iran by claiming that a “whole civilisation will die tonight”.. Sir Keir told MPs: “In relation to the language about destroying a civilisation, could I really be clear with this House – that was wrong.. “A threat to Iranian civilians in that way is wrong. These are civilians, let’s remember, who’ve suffered immeasurable harm by the regime in Iran for many, many, long years, and that’s why they’re words and phrases that I would never use on behalf of this government, which is guided by our principles and our values throughout all this.”. Last week, Sir Keir referred negatively to Trump and the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. in the same sentence, when he said he was “fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down… because of the actions of Putin or Trump”.. The prime minister has also said the UK will not be getting involved in America’s blockade of Iranian ports.. Trump has been persistently critical in public of the prime minister, including saying he is “not Winston Churchill”.. Little has been briefed about the specifics of the conversation between La 

​NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!. A Butler, Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty to making threats to assassinate President Donald Trump, other U.S. officials and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).. Shawn Monper, 32, pleaded guilty on Monday to two counts of threatening to assault and murder U.S. officials and federal law enforcement officers with intent to impede or retaliate against them while they were carrying out their duties.. Law enforcement officials arrested Monper on April 9, 2025, after launching an investigation into threats posted on YouTube by a user identified as “Mr Satan.”. The FBI was notified about Monper’s YouTube account on April 8, 2025, and was able to link it to his home in Butler.. BONDI PRAISES RYAN ROUTH VERDICT, SAYS ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT WAS AN ‘AFFRONT TO OUR VERY NATION ITSELF’. He made several threatening statements between Jan. 15 and April 5, including that he was “going to assassinate” Trump “myself,” that “ICE are terrorist people, we need to start killing them,” and that “eventually im going to do a mass shooting.”. On Feb. 17, he wrote: “Nah, we just need to start killing people, Trump, Elon [Musk], all the heads of agencies Trump appointed, and anyone who stands in the way. Remember, we are the majority, MAGA is a minority of the country, and by the time its time to make the move, they will be weakened, many will be crushed by these policies, and they will want revenge too. American Revolution 2.0.”. The FBI investigation also found that Monper obtained a firearms permit after Trump’s inauguration, which he referenced on his YouTube account.. MAN ACCUSED OF PLOTTING TRUMP ASSASSINATION CLAIMS IRAN FORCED HIM TO. “I have bought several guns and been stocking up on ammo since Trump got in office,” he wrote after Trump’s second inauguration. In March, he added, “I have been buying 1 gun a month since the election, body armor, and ammo.”. Monper threatened ICE again on April 1, writing, “If I see an armed ICE agent, I will consider it a domestic terrorist, and an active shooter and open fire on them.”. The Butler Township Police Department in Pennsylvania investigated the case alongside the FBI.. FBI ‘STONEWALLED’ HOUSE TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT INVESTIGATION, CONGRESSMEN ALLEGEU.S. District Judge W. Scott Hardy scheduled Monper’s sentencing for August 12, 2026.. Monper faces a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison on each count, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP. Trump was shot in the ear during a campaign rally in Butler on July 13, 2024. The shooter was killed by the Secret Service.. Ryan Routh was also arrested for attempting to assassinate the president in September 2024 after he was found armed and lying in wait outside his golf course in West Palm Beach. In February, Routh was sentenced to life in prison plus seven years.  

​NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!. A crowd of rowdy teenagers swarmed the Navy Yard waterfront in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, the latest in a series of “viral takeovers” challenging city officials.. Video captured by D.C. activist Elissa De Souza posted on X showed a mass of people in a busy intersection in the city’s Navy Yard neighborhood Sunday.. “What should’ve been a great night out in Navy Yard turned into something we’re seeing far too often,” De Souza wrote. “This isn’t a one-off—it’s a repeat pattern, and it’s happening later and later into the night. Residents and visitors should be able to enjoy a beautiful day, support new businesses, and have a peaceful meal without worrying about safety or disruption.”. The gathering came during a weekend when the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) implemented a temporary juvenile curfew zone in Navy Yard.. WATCH: Swarm of teens floods DC streets in ‘takeover’. GOT A TIP?. From Friday through Sunday, the curfew restricted anyone under 18 from gathering in groups of nine or more within the designated area during evening hours, unless exempted.. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP. According to MPD, the curfew zone was in effect from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. each night. Police maintained an increased presence in Navy Yard and other areas where similar gatherings have previously occurred, they said.. FOLLOW US ON X. Authorities said that while some groups briefly engaged in disorderly behavior Saturday night, they dispersed without incident. No criminal offenses were reported in the curfew zone over the weekend, and no arrests were made by MPD in connection with the gatherings.. GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAIL. However, Metro Transit Police made four arrests at the nearby Waterfront Metro station outside the curfew zone. Details about the four arrests were not immediately available.. On Sunday night, officers recorded six curfew violations within the Navy Yard area, police said.. CLICK HERE FOR MORE US NEWS. “MPD is committed to doing everything possible to keep D.C. residents and visitors safe, and that includes supporting spaces to enable youth to gather to enjoy our city,” Interim Chief of Police Jeffrey W. Carroll said in a statement.. A citywide juvenile curfew remains in effect daily from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., and officials are urging parents and guardians to monitor their children’s whereabouts as spring break continues.. Such “teen takeovers” have been happening across the District. The incidents typically involve large gatherings of young people and disruptive behavior.