In a recent interview with Sky News political editor Beth Rigby, Jim Murphy offered a warning about Britain’s fiscal future. The country, he said, is facing “eye-watering choices,” and if economic growth does not materialise, then cuts to welfare, education and other public services may be necessary.
But defence, he declared, must remain “non-negotiable.”
Murphy was introduced in the segment in the piece ‘Welfare vs Warfare: The Battle Keir Starmer can’t afford to lose‘ as a Scottish former politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2014 to 2015 and Secretary of State for Scotland, with experience in both welfare and defence briefs. It was a framing that lent his words the weight of senior political insight.
But viewers were not told that Murphy is also the founder and chief executive of Arden Strategies, a political consultancy that advises numerous companies operating in the defence and security sectors. Such a connection was easy to find – the BBC even ran an article titled ‘Ex-minister’s firm lobbies for defence and oil giants‘ in October 2024.
His company is no small fish. Arden’s most recent accounts show a sharp rise in retained earnings and cash reserves, with net assets growing from £1.56 million to £2.8 million in a year – suggesting a highly profitable recent run for the firm.
Arden’s Defence and Security Practice offers a suite of services designed to help arms firms secure political influence. The firm is staffed by a cadre of former politicians, advisers and strategists with close ties to Labour’s current frontbench, and “a former Chair of the Defence Select Committee”. It promises to help defence companies “navigate a rapidly evolving defence and security landscape, helping them engage effectively with the Government’s personalities and policies.”
As openDemocracy revealed in June 2024, one of Arden’s recent and better known clients has been Northrop Grumman, a major US defence contractor and key supplier of weapons components used by the Israeli military. The company’s UK and European chief, Nick Chaffey, reportedly attended at least two private Arden-organised lobbying events alongside senior Labour politicians, including Scottish MSP Anas Sarwar and Secretary of State for Scotland, Ian Murray. These meetings, held behind closed doors with no press access, came as Labour refused to support a total ban on arms exports to Israel. The BBC also reported that Arden hosted an event on behalf of Northrop Grumman at the 2024 Labour conference in Liverpool.
Numerous other Arden clients are also linked to the wider military-industrial complex:
- Ark Data Centre, a “data centre developer and operator”, has had historic links with the Ministry of Defence (MoD);
- Atos, an IT provider, were reported two years ago to have renewed a major contract with the MoD supporting the CORTISONE programme, seeking too modernise Defence Medical Services through digital healthcare systems;
- Cubic, another client, last year secured a two-year contract with the MoD to supply its Light Gun Simulation System for artillery training and an ‘Integrated Live Training – Area Weapons Effects System (ILT-A)‘, designed to enhance the realism of British Army exercises;
- Jacobs National Security & Defense boasts of partnering with governments on “national security infrastructure and resiliency”;
- KBR, too, is a major US defence contractor that was awarded in 2024 a $100 million contract by the MoD to provide and operate Heavy Equipment Transporters for moving British Army equipment;
- Rolls-Royce designs and manufactures military jet engines and power systems for submarines (notably Trident’s propulsion) and has deep MoD connections;
- Harland and Wolff (now acquired by Navantia UK) has a number contracts for MoD-support vessels, two years ago signing one worth up to £800 million to build major sections of the Royal Navy’s new Fleet Solid Support ships.
Given such a deep defence portfolio, when someone who profits from advising such clients is asked to comment on the state’s defence priorities, and especially when they argue that defence must be protected from cuts even if welfare is not, the audience deserves to know that there is more at play than a dispassionate policy analysis.
That Sky News – and Rigby, one of Westminster’s most prominent political journalists – did not disclose Murphy’s current role represents either a failure to do some cursory research on who they are speaking to or a lapse in editorial judgement.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on Murphy’s part. Former ministers are free to enter the private sector and to work in industries where they hold expertise. Nor is there any bar on them expressing political opinions in the media. But there is a meaningful distinction between the perspective of a retired public servant and that of a commercial lobbyist. Murphy is no longer merely a commentator on defence policy; he is now, in effect, a broker for those who stand to benefit from its expansion.
The British arms industry depends not just on contracts, but on consent. That consent is shaped in part by public discourse. If those who help shape it are not subject to appropriate scrutiny, the debate itself becomes skewed. Murphy’s claim that “no Labour politician comes into politics to cut welfare” was offered as a lament. But when it is followed by an insistence that defence must be shielded while everything else is up for negotiation, it reads like advocacy.
Advocacy, in this case, from someone who helps defence firms influence and profit from the very policies under discussion. Sky News, and Beth Rigby in particular, owe their viewers greater transparency: Murphy’s lobbying role should have been disclosed.
AOAV has approached Sky News for comment.
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