Chancellor Burnham should get an extra £4.7bn for defence, the minister said

Andy Burnham’s government needs to find an extra £4.7bn to fund the defense investment plan announced by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, the Defense Secretary has said.

Luke Pollard told the BBC that the next chancellor “could be whoever” should “find the resources” in his autumn budget.

In one of his last acts as Prime Minister, Sir Kiir announced a £15bn spending spree over the next four years to fund a long-awaited plan to boost UK defence.

But the Treasury is currently only set aside £10.3bn of savings, meaning Burnham, who is expected to take over as Prime Minister on July 20, will have to find the resources to plug the gap.

Pollard told BBC Breakfast: “In the Autumn Budget, just over £4 billion will be made available.

“Obviously, this is a very good standard rate to give notice to the government and prepare the details in the next budget.

“The last government did it many times.”

Burnham is widely expected to replace Rachel Reeves as chancellor if he becomes prime minister, with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband the front-runner to step into the key role.

In her budget last November, Reeves said she had earmarked extra money for emergencies and “shocks” in her budget last November “until the next chancellor, whatever that is, to allocate a major department and resources this year”.

He is a big supporter of Burnham and hoped he would become prime minister, but the former Greater Manchester mayor revealed on Tuesday the £4.7bn defense funding gap he had been told.

“Downing Street has had close discussions with Andy’s team … I understand that they have brought him up to date with the process, and told him when the Treasury published the statement and the breakdown of financial costs yesterday,” he told Sky News.

In a speech on Tuesday, he said the Defense Investment Plan (DIP), expected early last autumn, would reverse the “deteriorating gaps” in the armed forces under the Conservatives.

Under the plans, total defense spending will rise from 2.6% of national income in 2027 to 2.7%, or nearly £80bn, by 2030.

Parliament said the UK was on track to spend 3 per cent of GDP on defense over the next five years – but did not set a more specific date for this target, which defense chiefs and former defense secretary John Healey called for.

Sir Kerr said the DIP would put the UK on track to meet NATO’s core defense spending target of 3.5% of GDP by 2035.

The outgoing Prime Minister stated that he will not take additional loans for the increased funds, and instead, the funds will be obtained by reducing the long-term investment budgets of other government departments by 1 percent.

The Department for Transport is making an extra £700m of savings from road projects and plans to scrap the A38 Derby Junctions and A46 Newark Bypass are being considered.

The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) is getting an extra £2bn from the budget. More detailed plans are expected in the fall.