Next UK PM Andy Burnham faces defense funding gap | Political Affairs

Defense Secretary Dan Jarvis is facing questions about the funding gap and whether Burnham was blindsided,

Andy Burnham will have to raise 4.7 billion pounds ($6.2bn) to close the defense spending gap if, as expected, he becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom later this month.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday announced a long-delayed defense plan aimed at making the UK’s military ready for war amid security threats and warnings that Russia could attack the NATO member as soon as 2030.

However, the plan’s commitment to spend an additional 15 billion pounds ($19.9bn) was revised within hours of its release after accompanying documents showed that almost a third of the money still needed to be found in the budget at the end of this year.

Burnham he only became aware of the funding hole on the day it was published, Defense Procurement Minister Luke Pollard said on Wednesday.

“It’s not uncommon for governments to announce that this is what we’re going to spend, and finalize the details of the next budget,” Pollard told Sky News.

Defense Secretary Dan Jarvis is facing questions about the funding gap and whether Burnham was blindsided by the need for a freeze in his first budget.

Jarvis sidestepped repeated questions about whether Burnham had been informed he was being left with financial problems.

“Obviously, we’ve been talking to Andy Burnham and his team about the plan,” Jarvis told BBC Newsnight, pointing to Starmer’s focus on a “smooth transition” to power.

Burnham is highly anticipated to be Prime Minister of the UK later in July.

“I know that if Andy Burnham becomes prime minister … that he will take on national security like Keir did,” Pollard said.

He later refused to answer questions when Burnham was told about the finances, saying, “I’m not involved in that discussion,” in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Opposition politicians and former military chiefs have also criticized the defense plan for failing to outline how defense spending will reach 3 percent of GDP, on track to meet the UK’s NATO commitment to spend 3.5 percent of GDP by 2035.

Starmer defended the money on Tuesday, saying most of the extra money comes from refunds from other government departments.