Andy Burnham has said he will increase the country’s defence budget by cutting welfare spending as he carves his path to Number 10.
While a Labour leadership contest is yet to be launched, the Greater Manchester mayor is already a top contender, as scores of MPs have urged Sir Keir Starmer to step down as prime minister.
Though Sir Keir precariously holds on to his premiership, Mr Burnham has already marked his way to Downing Street– beginning with a by-election in Makerfield, which he calls a “mega focus group for the country”.
The Independent understands that internal polling and data gathering by the Labour campaign team in the northwest constituency suggests Mr Burnham “will win easily and actually embarrass Reform UK”, putting him in a strong position to challenge the prime minister immediately on his return to the Commons.
Speaking in an interview with The Times, Mr Burnham reflected on yet another tumultuous week for the prime minister, who lost Labour loyalist John Healey as his defence secretary, followed by Al Carns as armed forces minister.
The two defence ministers dramatically resigned in response to the prime minister’s Defence Investment Plan (DIP) which they felt was insufficient in the face of rising threats to the country’s security.
In a damning letter, the former defence secretary said the funding “falls well short of what is required”, with extra support not coming until after 2030 even though the “imperative to speed up readiness to fight is in the first two years”.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Mr Healey’s resignation showed Sir Keir’s premiership was “falling apart”, while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said his departure should act as “a wake-up call” for Sir Keir and any potential leadership challengers and urged them to “get serious about funding our armed forces properly”.
When questioned if he agrees with Mr Healey’s shock resignation, Mr Burnham dodged a straight answer but said instead that the “world has changed,” and “defence, security, and also resilience” must change too.
“I think the events of the last 24 hours have shown how broken things are and how much they need to change,” he added.
The mayor set out a 10-year approach for defence and security, as well as a 10-year approach to public investment and procurement.
He said he is “not at all squeamish” about admitting that the plan would be “to reduce the welfare bill”. However, his vision would be take people out of welfare and into work, moving towards a “more preventative state that makes the right investments to support people into work”.
Mr Burnham’s team is understood to already be organising his Downing Street operation and sounding out candidates to join his top team, including cabinet roles, in the expectation he will become leader and prime minister after returning to parliament.
Details of his preparations for No 10 include looking at an overhaul of communications in Downing Street, which has been identified as one of Sir Keir’s greatest weaknesses.
