London, UK // 01 July 2026 – Rethinking Security, along with 55 other organisations – including Peace Direct – have sent an Open Letter to the Prime Minister on military spending and the next NATO Summit.
In the wake of yesterday’s Defence Investment Plan (DIP), more than 50 organisations from across the UK – including ActionAid UK, CAFOD, Christian Aid, ODI Global, Quakers in Britain, and Rethinking Security – have jointly written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to warn against the government’s increasing focus of British public resources on the military over other forms of international engagement.
The 55 signatories include major humanitarian organisations, international affairs think tanks, peacebuilding NGOs, faith-based groups, and those campaigning on climate, disarmament, conflict and human rights issues.
The letter reflects a shared concern about the direction of UK security policy in a world beset by conflict, inequality and climate and ecological breakdown. Current UK commitments and spending plans, confirmed and again boosted in the DIP, vastly skew funding away from tackling such issues and towards preparing to fight a major war. In many respects they continue to reduce the UK’s ability to analyse and engage effectively with global challenges as they intensify.
As the letter notes, since last year’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR), the government has repeatedly heralded a national conversation on security, which has yet to materialise. The signatories would welcome such a genuine conversation and highlight research that shows that the public views security in far broader terms than simple military threats, as well as supporting a nuanced and more sustainable range of responses.
The letter urges the PM to resist pressures from allies at the NATO Summit in Ankara (07-08 July) to further increase or accelerate military spending, and to commit instead to a more cooperative, internationalist future in which capabilities to build peace, sustainability and societal resilience are reprioritised.
A copy of the letter will also be sent to Andy Burnham MP, as the most likely imminent successor to Keir Starmer as PM.
Richard Reeve, Coordinator of Rethinking Security, says:
“This letter to the PM and his likely successor demonstrates that the national conversation on our security has barely begun. While the major political parties compete to outspend each other on defence, tens of millions of people in our society are unconvinced by the ‘war-footing’ narrative and its focus on rearmament at the expense of tackling other crises and their causes.
“Development and diplomatic capacities have already been slashed to fill holes in the military programme; the DIP now depends on a £2 billion transfer from the energy security budget, even as the UK buckles under intense heat.”
Hannah Brock Womack of Quakers in Britain says:
“The Defence Investment Plan takes money from every government department. But we’re told there’s not enough money for decent social care. These are political choices. They are not inevitable and they are not uncontroversial.
“As Quakers we are driven by our faith, but in this letter we are part of a diverse range of organisations who for many different reasons are saying: stop, think again, this is the wrong path. Increasing military spending at the expense of peacebuilding and climate action will not make anyone safer. I hope this letter we will help stimulate a public conversation about the government’s choices.”
Notes to Editors
1. The Open Letter can be read in full here.
2. For further comment, please contact:
Richard Reeve, Coordinator, Rethinking Security, [email protected] ; 07811 362054 or,
Hannah Brock Womack, Quakers in Britain, [email protected] ; 07729 797637.
