Starmer dodges on whether ‘furious’ Burnham agreed to fill £5bn hole in new defence plan – as Kemi Badenoch says welfare must be cut

Keir Starmer today glossed over whether Andy Burnham had agreed to fill in nearly £5bn of ‘unexploded bombs’ in his new defense plans.

In ill-tempered PMQs, Sir Keir insisted ‘any Labor prime minister’ would stand behind his package.

But he has repeatedly evaded Kemi Badenoch’s demands on whether his successor would sign.

The Conservative leader said the Government was scrambling for money because it was ‘too weak to cut benefits when it had the chance’.

He argued that the only way to free up finance was through tax increases, cuts in services or reductions in welfare.

Critics have warned that the £15 billion funding increase over four years in the Defense Investment Plan (DIP) is ‘too little too late’.

But it has emerged that the source of the £4.7bn of cash will only be decided in the next budget, by which time Mr Burnham will almost certainly be prime minister.

Billions more will come from cuts in other departments, many of them unspecified.

The IFS think tank has warned that tax increases or cuts to services are inevitable to cover the costs.

Mr Burnham was briefed on the DIP but does not appear to have learned of the funding shortfall until the Treasury document was published yesterday. A Labor source who worked with Burnham’s team said they were ‘furious’.

PM has repeatedly dodged Kemi Badenoch’s demands on whether his successor would sign

The Prime Minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves congratulated each other as they unveiled the plan at a drone factory in Maidenhead yesterday

Burnham was briefed on the Defense Investment Plan but does not appear to have learned of the funding shortfall until the Treasury document was published yesterday

The Ministry of Defense also needs to come up with £10.7bn of productivity cuts to help fund the package, and no date has been set for military spending to reach that level. 3 percent of GDP. This rate is expected to reach 3.5 percent by 2035.

Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard, touring broadcast studios this morning, insisted the £4.7bn gap was ‘not unusual’.

He told Times Radio: ‘The £15bn of extra spending power we now have in the Treasury determines how around £10bn of that is spent by asking other departments to cut capital funds by 1p in sterling and transfer that money to defence.

‘There will be £4.7bn allocated in the autumn budget, which is not an unusual thing for governments to do.’

He said just over £1bn a year extra could come from the Treasury’s fiscal hole or other measures they were trying to take when making spending decisions, and that this was ‘standard practice’.

He also acknowledged that the DIP had delayed housing improvements for families in the armed forces.

‘A small portion of the money in the defense housing budget has been transferred to the next parliament so we can now prioritize the military readiness of our forces. ‘This was the right and difficult decision we made.’

Mr Burnham’s allies had tried to stop DIP’s release before Sir Keir was handed over to his successor, possibly on July 20.

The Prime Minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves congratulated each other as they unveiled the plan at a drone factory in Maidenhead yesterday.

Sir Keir He insisted the proposals were ‘the right choice for the country’, but conceded they would mean scrapping some road and energy projects; This sparked an immediate objection from a minister whose constituents might be affected.

The Prime Minister dealt veiled blows at Mr Burnham by rejecting the idea of ​​’defense bonds’ to provide finance, as well as his efforts to restrict the power of the Treasury.

Ms Reeves made her own farewell speech, referencing the little-understood conceit of ‘Security-o-nomics’ during her ‘two years as Chancellor’.

They made no mention of former defense secretary John Healey, who resigned after receiving offers of just around £13.5bn.

In an awkward moment that suggested his mind was on the World Cup, Sir Keir asked a question from ‘Sky Sports’.Sky News‘.

UK has ‘target’ for defense spending to reach 3 per cent of GDP by 2030s

But Mr. Healey, who left the Cabinet earlier this month after bitter rows with the Treasury, insisted the £15bn package over four years would not protect the country from growing threats.

Labour’s Defense Committee chairman Tan Dhesi said it was ‘disappointing’ there was no timeline to push spending to 3 per cent of GDP, let alone the 3.5 per cent demanded by Donald Trump.

Sir Keir still faces a frustrating showdown with Mr Trump at next week’s NATO summit as the president demands more spending on defence.