17.04.2026 • 35 Min.

It’s not just the Trump administration attacking the UK’s defence capabilities. Now a Labour grandee and former head of Nato, Lord George Robertson, has accused Sir Keir Starmer of ‘corrosive complacency’ over delays to defence spending. With the 10-year plan for defence stuck in deadlock, host Lucy Fisher discusses the choices faced by the PM with chief political commentator Robert Shrimsley, deputy political editor Jim Pickard and political columnist and writer of the Inside Politics newsletter, Stephen Bush. Plus, they look ahead to country-wide elections in less than three weeks and hear about the developing story around the vetting of Lord Mandelson. NOTE: This episode was recorded on Thursday April 16. Follow Lucy: @LOS_Fisher and @lucyfisher.ft.com; Stephen: @stephenkb and @stephenkb.bsky.social; Jim: @PickardJE and @pickardje.bsky.social and Robert: @robertshrimsley and @robertshrimsley.bsky.social Want more? Starmer accused of ‘corrosive complacency’ on UK defence by former Nato chief UK defence ministry left to foot £200mn bill for Ukraine mission Rebuke by former Nato chief points to wider government inaction Keir Starmer plans May relaunch with King’s Speech The great independence charade Foreign Office top civil servant forced out over Mandelson vetting fiasco No scenario in latest Mandelson drama makes Keir Starmer look good Sign up here for Stephen’s morning newsletter Inside Politics for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter, plus puns and tongue (mostly) in cheek views. Get 30 days free. Plus, send in your questions for a special Political Fix Q&A episode on May 11th. Email: politicalfix@ft.com Political Fix is presented by Lucy Fisher and produced by Clare Williamson. The executive producers are Manuela Saragosa and Edwin Lane. Audio mix and original music by Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.