Andy Burnham has failed to commit to new chancellor John Healey’s demands for defence spending to increase to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030, raising questions about how quickly he will allocate funding to Britain’s military.
Mr Healey quit as defence secretary in June, saying the defence investment plan did not provide enough money to future-proof the armed forces and keep Britain safe and criticised then-prime minister Sir Keir Starmer for not setting out a realistic timetable for the UK’s obligations to Nato to raise defence spending.
Defence spending was due to rise to 2.7 per cent of GDP by 2030 but Mr Healey argued it should instead rise to 3 per cent by then. Asked about Mr Healey’s previous demands, the prime minister’s official spokesperson stopped short of committing to them.
He told reporters: “As the prime minister said yesterday, we will honour our commitments on defence to our international partners, and as I say, we’ll set out more on defence in due course.
“He told the Nato secretary-general the appointment of John Healey as chancellor is a signal of his intent.”
Mr Healey has also previously indicated he would consider the use of “defence bonds”, borrowing allocated specifically for the military, to help boost its financial resources.
But Mr Burnham’s government is understood not to be looking at this as a solution to pay for higher defence spending.
On Tuesday, new defence secretary Wes Streeting signalled that spending could rise quicker under the new government but he too stopped short of committing to the 3 per cent target.
Speaking alongside his Japanese, Italian and Canadian counterparts in his first press conference in the role, Mr Streeting vowed Britain would “stick by” its international commitments, referencing Britain’s promise to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2035.
He said he believes the Ministry of Defence has a “firm friend” in Mr Healey.
“My focus is on maximising our deterrence and ensuring that, should deterrence fail, we’re ready to fight and win alongside allies”, Mr Streeting said.
“That means reindustrialisation and building back up our production capacity, so we can give our armed forces the kit they need, as well as building and buying British, so that we deliver good jobs in communities in every part of our country.
“It also means pushing the frontier of defence innovation, exactly as we are doing today, and it means keeping our people at the heart of defence.”
Asked if he was hinting at tax hikes to pay for increased defence spending, Mr Streeting did not directly reply, and spoke about how social justice and boosting Britain’s national security could “go hand in hand”.
He added: “As to future fiscal events, it’s for the chancellor to make announcements on those matters but I certainly feel like we’ve got a firm friend in His Majesty’s Treasury.”
