Stop the War slams media platforming generals and arms companies

Keir Starmer announced his defence investment plan (DIP) today and while the media is welcoming it with open arms (pun intended), the Stop the War (StW) Coalition has rightly called out the BS.

The FT said the increase in defence spending of approximately £15 billion was recently raised by £1 billion in the wake of John Healey’s resignation as defence secretary this month. It has apparently been signed off by Starmer’s expected successor, Andy Burnham.

Stop the War: ‘Never mind the cost of living crisis…’

Stop the War (StW) Coalition posted on X that generals and arms companies have been all over the media today welcoming increased defence spending in the DIP. Meanwhile, completely ignoring the current cost-of-living crisis in the UK.

Generals and arms companies all over the media today welcoming increased defence spending in the DIP

Never mind the cost-of-living crisis or the collapsing services he leaves behind, Starmer wants to be remembered as the man who ramped up spending on weapons https://t.co/W5TPeqMD83

— Stop the War Coalition (@STWuk) June 30, 2026

Those being platformed today are:

• Lord Dannatt, an ex-British Army general
• Richard Barrons, Former director of operations at the UK Armed Forces
• Ross Exley, vice president for defence strategy at Hadean
• Shefali Sharma, chief executive of Oxford Dynamics, an AI defence company
• Tom Redman, CEO of British-based drone supplier, Evolve Dynamics
• James Cartlidge, Shadow defence secretary
• Tim Willasey-Wilsey, a senior associate fellow at the RUSI and Ukrainian drone unit commander Neo

Drone bonanza

The main beneficiary of Starmer’s DIP is expected to be drone companies.

UK watchdog, Drone Wars, said that drone companies were awaiting a spending bonanza and called the DIP, a “Drone Investment Plan”.

The “big number” in the DIP is the £5 billion earmarked for drones, according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile, LBC called it a “drone-building blitz”.

According to the MoD, Dan Jarvis, the new defence secretary, has spent the last two weeks “refocusing” the defence investment plan to ensure it learns the lessons from wars in Ukraine and Iran, BBC reported.

This includes how drones have been used to destroy high-value targets, with Jarvis saying the “character of warfare is rapidly changing”.

The Stop the War Coalition had also posted yesterday that wages, green jobs and welfare should be priorities instead of drones, and aded:

Security, defence and fantasy threats are now the main ways that the ruling class justifies attacks on welfare and social programmes.

The media is pulling out all the stops to ensure a good payout for the arm companies and keep the ruling class happy, it seems.

Featured image via BBC