‘Powerless’ Starmer heading to Nato with defence investment plan that is ‘not fit for purpose’, Badenoch to say

Kemi Badenoch is set to launch a scathing attack on Westminster, accusing it of indulging in “pantomime” at a time when “Britain needs seriousness” about the future of its armed forces.

In his speech on Tuesday, the Conservative leader will claim Sir Keir Starmer, who attended the last NATO summit as Prime Minister, is a “weak” leader whose defense investment plan (DIP) is “not fit for purpose”.

Ms Badenoch is also expected to challenge the national security priorities of Andy Burnham, whom she has described as an “interim prime minister” who replaces Sir Keir and is set to become 10th on July 20.

He is expected to say: “Just at a time when Britain needs seriousness, Westminster has never been more of a pantomime.

“We are now sending a Prime Minister who is completely powerless and has left office to that NATO summit.

“And he is taking with him a defense investment plan that he knows is not fit for purpose.”

With the Treasury yet to fund £4.7bn of the £15bn increase announced last week, Ms Badenoch will take the brunt of Labor over the so-called “black hole” in the Bottom.

“Labour has failed to realize that the problems with the defense investment plan did not go away just because Andy Burnham came to the rescue,” he will say.

“But Burnham doesn’t seem to have said anything about the threats we face.

“Do you not care that a Russian jet was intercepted on Sunday by the RAF firing sonar devices at a British aircraft carrier?

“Or do you think our undersea cables are already under constant attack and a Russian attack on them could bring down the internet across the country?

“The defense of this country should be Andy Burnham’s number one priority. In fact, he says he wants to spend less time on foreign affairs.”

Mr Burnham claimed he was “not involved in all discussions” about Dip’s financial details but promised to “fully take on my responsibilities for funding the defense investment plan” if he became leader.

“There is no compromise on the security of the nation,” he told LBC last week.

Ms Badenoch will also attack Reform UK, claiming the party thinks “immigration is the only national security issue worth worrying about” and is mired in scandal as Nigel Farage’s finances are scrutinised.

The reform leader said he had done “nothing wrong” after it was revealed he had received support from long-term partner George Cottrell, including staff, security and the use of a London town hall.

“They didn’t even bother to appoint a foreign affairs or defense spokesman,” he will say.

“Former Welsh leaders are in prison for accepting bribes from Russia. They are completely distracted by constant scandals.”

Taking a quick look at Mr Burnham’s speech last week, in which he laid out broad plans for greater devolution and public control of essential services, he is expected to add: “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin doesn’t care how nationalized your buses are and he doesn’t care whether No 10 is in Manchester or London.

“All he cares about is whether Britain can defend itself.”

On Monday, Ms Badenoch accused Mr Burnham of taking a “summer holiday” before entering No 10 after criticizing the Prime Minister’s limited exposure to media scrutiny following his resignation.

Sir Keir’s prospective successor refused to take questions from journalists after his speech last week and has since given an interview to LBC and held an online Q&A on Reddit.

Among the users who took part in the questions session on Reddit was Ms Badenoch, who asked if she would be willing to hold a proper press conference and “subject yourself to scrutiny”.

The newly elected Makerfield MP responded: “A fair challenge, Kemi – but remember, it’s only been two weeks since I faced questions from 74,000 members of the public in Makerfield!”

Speaking at the UK Politics event on Monday, Ms Badenoch said she was “the only person coming to work at the moment”.

“What I’m trying to show is that while Andy Burnham is on his summer holiday, Keir Starmer is walking off into the sunset, while Nigel Farage is dealing with the latest scandal… I’m drawing up a whole plan for the government,” he said.

But he said that given the Conservative Party’s record in office, his party had “taken its eye off the ball” on immigration and was “very sorry”.

Ms Badenoch, who was business secretary in the previous Tory government, said: “Look what happened, we just took our eye off the ball. That’s my understanding. I wasn’t in the Home Office.”

“The numbers didn’t come out until a year later, and as soon as we discovered it we started fixing it.”

He added: “We are very sorry. We have accepted that mistakes were made and we now have the strictest immigration policy available.”

“We are leaving the ECHR and there is a full plan to support that and anyone who does not agree with that plan cannot be a Conservative MP.”