British weapons production must be bolstered so the UK can defend itself and help arm Ukraine, Labour warned tonight.
Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey backed shipping weapons to Kyiv but feared it had left Britain vulnerable.
He called on the Ministry of Defence to shift to an “urgent operational footing” to replenish depleted stocks after kit was sent to help President Volodymyr Zelensky’s regime repel Russian forces.
“We’ve got to reboot defence plans, we’ve got to boost military production to sustain support for Ukraine and rearm Britain,” said Mr Healey, speaking exclusively to the Mirror.
“I’m concerned that we are running down our own military stocks without urgent action to replace them.”
In a speech to the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank on Tuesday, he will call for a “stockpiles strategy” to overhaul a “wasteful peacetime procurement system”.
He is due to tell experts: “We need to shift parts of our defence industry and Ministry of Defence procurement on to an urgent operational footing, both to support Ukraine for the long-term and to replenish UK stocks for any future conflict.”
Mr Healey told the Mirror Labour would continue to back the Tories in sending vital gear to Kyiv.
“The Government’s had our fullest Labour support for the military assistance we’ve provided to Ukraine and the reinforcement of NATO allies,” he said.
“But we’ve got to move from ad-hoc announcements to a long-term plan to support Ukraine - a 2023 and beyond action plan, covering military, economic and humanitarian, diplomatic assistance.”
He believed ministers should start work now on building back up UK weapons caches.
“We need to replenish our own stockpiles,” he said.
“The MoD should be telling contractors in advance what will be needed so they can plan the ramping up of their capacity to produce.”
He added: “They should be putting parts of the procurement system on an urgent operational footing, setting aside some of the rigid rules and protracted processes to get contracts in place and production under way.”
The Labour frontbencher called for a long-term plan of military, economic and humanitarian support for Ukraine, which he wants published before the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion on February 24 “to signal to (Vladimir) Putin that things will get worse, not better for Russia.”
Mr Healey, a former Communities Minister, said: “The next Government will inherit the Ukraine conflict and Russia’s wider aggression.
“With a general election, there may be a change to Labour but there will be no change to Britain’s resolve in confronting Russia’s threats, pursuing Putin’s crimes and standing with Ukraine.”
Mr Healey also confirmed Labour would conduct and publish a Strategic Defence and Security Review within its first year back in power.
The MoD was contacted for comment.
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