Andy Burnham has just started as Prime Minister (Image: Getty)
What’s more important than defending our country? We expect a lot from our government. That includes good schools, a good health service and more. And sometimes we want politicians to get out of the way, so that the hard-working people who keep the economy ticking over can get on with their jobs.
But it all counts for nothing if we can’t defend ourselves from our enemies. And that’s the situation Andy Burnham is placing us in. He has no plan for increasing defence spending to 3% of GDP – the bare minimum experts say is needed. And there’s certainly no plan to get it up to the NATO target of 3.5%. Instead, Chancellor John Healey is set to announce a more modest increase in the Budget in October.
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We are promised that there will be more to come in a future spending review, but that won’t be announced until 2027 at the earliest.
It’s surprising, because Mr Healey quit as defence secretary earlier this year precisely because of the Government’s failure to provide our armed forces with the support they need.
He said in a letter to former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer: “As we have regularly discussed, I am certain that a headmark date for 3% of GDP on defence in 2030 is what Britain must set. This commitment would have strong cross-party support. Other European allies are stepping up in this way.”
But questioned in Parliament by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch on Wednesday, Mr Burnham insisted a plan will be revealed “at the spending review”.
It’s a massive error, coming close to the start of his time in Number 10.
And unfortunately, it really matters.
We’d all prefer to believe that the threat from Russia isn’t real, or perhaps that it’s confined to Ukraine.
But experts say we are nearly at war with Russia right now.
Moscow has stepped up its threats against the UK following reports that Ukraine used drones made by British firms to attack targets inside Russia. Asked whether Moscow might strike military facilities in the UK, President Vladimir Putin said: “That’s a secret. A military secret.”
The Kremlin has been accused of conducting a campaign of sabotage against European nations including the UK. Germany said Moscow was behind last month’s drone attack at Leipzig airport, and the Foreign Office yesterday summoned Russia’s charge d’affaires for a meeting to condemn the attack.
Russia was blamed for a cyber-attack that shut down Jaguar Land Rover factories in the UK, costing an estimated £1.9 billion.
Keir Starmer himself warned in June: “It is our intelligence assessment and the assessment of other countries in NATO that there could be an attack by Russia on NATO as soon as 2030.”
If Russia attacks any NATO country, that means the UK, as a NATO member, has to defend them.
We need to be ready to fight, if the worst happens.
But what we all really want is to avoid a war – and how do we do that?
It’s by making it clear to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin that we are capable of fighting back against Russian aggression. That’s how we make him think twice.
By failing to explain how he will give our armed forces the resources they need, Andy Burnham is giving succour to Putin and making the world a more dangerous place.
Andy Burnham has just started as Prime Minister (Image: Getty)
What’s more important than defending our country? We expect a lot from our government. That includes good schools, a good health service and more. And sometimes we want politicians to get out of the way, so that the hard-working people who keep the economy ticking over can get on with their jobs.
But it all counts for nothing if we can’t defend ourselves from our enemies. And that’s the situation Andy Burnham is placing us in. He has no plan for increasing defence spending to 3% of GDP – the bare minimum experts say is needed. And there’s certainly no plan to get it up to the NATO target of 3.5%. Instead, Chancellor John Healey is set to announce a more modest increase in the Budget in October.
Get the latest politics news – straight from our team in Westminster and more Invalid email
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
We are promised that there will be more to come in a future spending review, but that won’t be announced until 2027 at the earliest.
It’s surprising, because Mr Healey quit as defence secretary earlier this year precisely because of the Government’s failure to provide our armed forces with the support they need.
He said in a letter to former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer: “As we have regularly discussed, I am certain that a headmark date for 3% of GDP on defence in 2030 is what Britain must set. This commitment would have strong cross-party support. Other European allies are stepping up in this way.”
But questioned in Parliament by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch on Wednesday, Mr Burnham insisted a plan will be revealed “at the spending review”.
It’s a massive error, coming close to the start of his time in Number 10.
And unfortunately, it really matters.
We’d all prefer to believe that the threat from Russia isn’t real, or perhaps that it’s confined to Ukraine.
But experts say we are nearly at war with Russia right now.
Moscow has stepped up its threats against the UK following reports that Ukraine used drones made by British firms to attack targets inside Russia. Asked whether Moscow might strike military facilities in the UK, President Vladimir Putin said: “That’s a secret. A military secret.”
The Kremlin has been accused of conducting a campaign of sabotage against European nations including the UK. Germany said Moscow was behind last month’s drone attack at Leipzig airport, and the Foreign Office yesterday summoned Russia’s charge d’affaires for a meeting to condemn the attack.
Russia was blamed for a cyber-attack that shut down Jaguar Land Rover factories in the UK, costing an estimated £1.9 billion.
Keir Starmer himself warned in June: “It is our intelligence assessment and the assessment of other countries in NATO that there could be an attack by Russia on NATO as soon as 2030.”
If Russia attacks any NATO country, that means the UK, as a NATO member, has to defend them.
We need to be ready to fight, if the worst happens.
But what we all really want is to avoid a war – and how do we do that?
It’s by making it clear to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin that we are capable of fighting back against Russian aggression. That’s how we make him think twice.
By failing to explain how he will give our armed forces the resources they need, Andy Burnham is giving succour to Putin and making the world a more dangerous place.