Andy Burnham yesterday refused to set a timetable for spending 3 percent of Britain’s GDP on defense.
Questioned by Conservative Leader Kemi Badenochthe Prime Minister has not specified a date for achieving such a target.
Instead, he claimed that he had appointed John Healey as his chancellor ‘precisely because of his commitment to defence’.
He insisted that Healey would reveal plans to spend 3 percent and then 3.5 percent of GDP on defense at next year’s spending review.
Sir Keir StarmerThe former defense minister resigned after accusing the then prime minister of endangering the country’s security by failing to fully fund the defense investment plan.
In his resignation letter, he said he was “confident that Britain should set a target date for 3 percent of GDP on defense by 2030” ahead of the election. NATO commitment to spend 3.5 percent by 2035.
But there have been suggestions he could return to this after saying the chancellorship was “a bigger job” than his previous role.
Mr Healey failed to allay these fears as he again refused to commit to a timetable.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham refused to commit to a timetable for meeting the target of spending 3 percent of GDP on defense after his Chancellor John Healey did the same
In her first meeting in the House of Commons with the new Prime Minister, Ms Badenoch demanded to know when the Government would meet the 3 per cent target.
She asked him: ‘Will he provide the funding his own chancellor said was needed to keep British troops safe?’
Mr Burnham replied: ‘I appointed this Chancellor of the Exchequer precisely because of his commitment to the defense of our Empire and the arguments he has made, and he will set the path in the Spending Review to fully deliver on our international obligations.’
Mr Healey himself had said he would reveal when the country would reach 3 per cent, although he had declined to say when.
But then he told a newspaper: ‘For the first time at the [spring 2027] spending review, we will set out a clear path on how we will meet NATO’s 3.5 percent of GDP commitment by 2035. And as part of setting that clear path, we will set that target date at 3 percent.”
And Mr Healey promised defense spending would be central to his spending plans after fears he would delay the target.
Yet he warned that filling a £5 billion gap in funding next month would mean “difficult decisions” for the budget.
He stressed that he remains 100 percent committed to meeting NATO’s commitment to spend 3.5 percent of GDP on defense by 2035.
Earlier, Defense Secretary Wes Streeting stressed: ‘There should be no doubt about the Chancellor’s commitment to investing in our defence.’
Yet he has also refused to commit to such a goal, adding instead: “I certainly feel that we have a good friend in His Majesty’s treasury.”
Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said Mr Healey was a “firm friend” of his department, despite the chancellor refusing to commit to the target, prompting his resignation from Sir Keir Starmer’s government.
Mr Healey’s resignation as Defense Secretary proved to be the final blow that ended Sir Keir’s premiership.
The former prime minister announced plans to increase defense spending to 2.7 percent of GDP by 2027/2028, without further details.
The Ministry of Finance has now also stated that the government will reveal plans to achieve both objectives in the spending review.
According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, targeting 3 percent by 2030 would cost the UK a further £17.3 billion.
James Cartlidge, shadow defense secretary, has accused Mr Healey of ‘going back on the promise that sealed the fate of the last prime minister and opened the door of Number 10 to Andy Burnham’.
Mr Healey has previously stated that “fiscal discipline” is the “first priority” for any Chancellor, adding that the Government “simply cannot solve the problems we face as a country by maxing out the nation’s credit card”.
Mr Burnham has said in recent weeks that the fiscal context of the budget was “challenging”.
