Andy Burnham is facing a defence spending black hole of up to £15 billion after Downing Street admitted it had not yet identified the cuts needed to fund the plan. Sir Keir Starmer unveiled his £15 billion defence investment plan earlier this week after months of delays. It emerged shortly after that there was a £4.7 billion black hole, with a decision on where that would come from to be made at the Budget in the autumn. But yesterday, No 10 was unable to give detail on where the remaining £10.3 billion cuts to Whitehall spending which will fund the plan will come from.
Lack of detail on cuts
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman was unable to provide a full list of the projects which will be scrapped to account for the full £10.3 billion in savings. Details will be provided “by the autumn”, he said, also indicating that some hospital building programmes could be cut. No 10 revealed that road building projects in Derby and Lincolnshire are among those being sized up in the cuts. Departments across Government must slash 1% off their spending on major projects to pay for the defence boost, while transport and energy spending will face larger axes.
Political reaction
Tory Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge said the defence investment plan had “completely unravelled barely a day after it was published”. He said: “The increase in spending is far too little, the capability promised comes far too late, and now we learn that they don’t even know how to fund it. Keir Starmer is kicking the can down the road for his successor because he has failed to take the tough decisions needed to keep the country safe.”
Impact on Burnham
The black hole will prove to be a headache for Mr Burnham, who is set to enter 10 Downing Street within weeks. The defence plan, which aimed to boost military spending, has instead raised questions over the government's ability to fund its commitments without cutting other key projects.
