Lord Robertson might not be a household name, but his damning indictment will set alarm bells ringing in No 10

The ex-Nato secretary general almost never speaks out publicly, which makes his intervention over Keir Starmer’s failure to make decisions on defence all the more impactful, writes political editor David Maddox
P oliticians tend to fall into one of four categories .

There are some who will speak about anything, the “rent-a-quote” types for whom nothing is off-limits.

In the second group are those who make considered judgements on specific issues, while there are others who will readily give briefings but without putting their names to a quote.

Finally, there are those who always keep their counsel, and seldom speak out publicly; any interventions are made behind closed doors.

Until today Lord George Robertson , Labour ’s former defence secretary and an ex-secretary general of Nato , fell firmly into that last category.

He is a man of enormous political integrity who commands huge respect, partly because he uses his wealth of knowledge to make his critical interventions largely in private to leaders like Sir Keir Starmer.

His loyalty to the Labour Party was certainly tested during the Corbyn years, but nobody has ever doubted his commitment to the party.

So the fact that this Labour grandee has reached the point of frustration that he now finally feels the need to speak out publicly in such a damning way will have set alarm bells ringing in Downing Street and throughout government.

Lord Robertson has clearly reached the point of peak anger on the issue as the world descends into multiple conflicts and the UK appears powerless and ill-equipped to respond to them.

The debacle around sending a warship to defend Britain’s bases in Cyprus as they were under bombardment from Iran was perhaps the tipping point.

As HMS Dragon waited in Portsmouth to be refitted andanother ship had question marks over sailing because it had still not received an upgrade to operate in warm waters, both the Greeks and French were able to send ships to protect the Mediterranean island and UK bases.

No 10’s claims of increases in spending are actually not true on the front line where the military services are making in-year cuts because the Treasury refused to fund the pay rise given to military personnel.

But in the end what this is about is exposing the sheer paralysis of the Starmer government.

Since the humiliation of the welfare rebellion last summer, Sir Keir has been unable to get any major change through.

He is certainly not able to significantly reduce welfare spending to fund the extra expenditure on defence that is required.

With his future as prime minister persistently in doubt, inaction and inability to do anything become the only decisions he can make, with such little political authority to rely on.

That sometimes works out well, such as not joining the bombing of Iran, but generally it leaves his government and country adrift.

This is why the Defence Investment Plan has been sitting on his desk for so long.

The PM does not have the clout or gumption to adjudicate between the Treasury and Ministry of Defence.

Without that plan the UK cannot move forward on rearming and preparing for a turbulent and increasingly volatile world.

This is why now of all times, the consummate loyalist Lord Robertson has chosen to speak out.

The rarity of his interventions makes the impact all the more stinging for a government that has lost its way.

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