The Ministry of Defence needs an urgent change in culture to ensure the armed forces are ready for military action within 1,000 days, the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee has warned.

In a parliamentary report calling for faster procurement reform, the committee identified political leadership from Downing Street and closer co-ordination with the Treasury as essential to streamlining defence purchasing.

Its recommendations link military readiness to the way procurement is managed across government, rather than treating reform as an internal Ministry of Defence task alone. The call for cultural transformation also goes beyond changing purchasing procedures: the committee wants a change in how the department works.

The 1,000-day objective gives that demand urgency. It remains a call for reform, however, rather than evidence that the changes needed to meet it have been delivered.