Kemi Badenoch has attacked Sir Keir Starmer over a missing £5bn in the government's defence investment plan, accusing the outgoing prime minister of leaving a “mess” for his successor. At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, the Conservative leader pressed Starmer on whether Andy Burnham – widely expected to take over as PM on 20 July – had agreed to fund the shortfall.
“Even the limited plan he has announced has completely unravelled because he hasn't found the money to pay for it: it's £5bn short,” Badenoch said. “We all know he is leaving this mess to his successor.”
“Kemi Badenoch has accused Keir Starmer of leaving a £5bn shortfall in defence spending for his successor.”
The long-awaited plan, unveiled by Starmer on Tuesday ahead of next week's Nato summit, includes £15bn in additional defence spending between now and 2030. But Defence Minister Luke Pollard later told the BBC the next chancellor will need to find an extra £4.7bn in this autumn's Budget to fully fund the proposals. The Treasury has only identified £10.3bn in savings, leaving the remainder to be set out in the next fiscal statement.
Starmer dismissed Badenoch's criticism as “faux outrage” and pointed to Conservative cuts to defence spending when they were in power. “I'm proud of this Labour government and any Labour prime minister would stand beside this plan,” he said. He attributed the ability to increase spending to “headroom” built into the Budget by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The plan still falls short of the £28bn reportedly demanded by defence chiefs and former defence ministers John Healey and Al Carns, who resigned in protest over it. Badenoch claimed the government was “spending it all on welfare” and said that, over the past two years, the UK had only increased defence spending by 0.01% compared to its allies.
Burnham, currently the MP for Makerfield, is widely expected to succeed Starmer, with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband seen as the front-runner to replace Reeves as chancellor. The funding gap – which Badenoch called a “black hole” – will be one of the first crunch decisions Burnham faces if he takes office.