Andy Burnham could “rip up” Keir Starmer’s delayed Defence Investment Plan and start again, a former Conservative defence policy adviser has suggested.
Speaking to GB News, Chris Newton declared it is “urgent” that the possible new Prime Minister must clear up the “complete mess” that is Britain’s national security.
The Defence Investment Plan, which was due to be published last Autumn, is still yet to be announced by the Labour Government.
The poorly executed plan sparked a double defence resignation from John Healey and Al Carns, who both strongly opposed the level of defence spending proposed by Sir Keir Starmer.
Reacting to Andy Burnham’s bid to become the next Prime Minister, Mr Newton told GB News that the plan must be published “urgently”.
He said: “There is an urgent need to implement and to announce this Defence Investment Plan because of the whole security situation, the situation with Russia, the United States not being as enthusiastic about European security as it once was.
“So I understand Keir Starmer from that perspective, but it’s not good enough. The previous Defence Secretary resigned, it wasn’t enough. It didn’t give the Armed Forces the extra investments that it needed.”
Mr Newton argued: “And there’s a whole issue of, well, if Starmer goes ahead with this, then is it worth the paper it’s written on?
Chris Newton has suggested that Andy Burnham could ‘rip up’ Keir Starmer’s proposed Defence Investment Plan
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GB NEWS / PA
“Because Burnham, if we think how history is going to play out, Burnham would be the Prime Minister and he could potentially sort of rip it up and start again.
“Ultimately, it’s a complete mess. I mean, ideally, it should be published now, but it’s not good enough. It’s a complete mess.”
Criticising Sir Keir’s performance on the world stage, Mr Newton said that his stance on Britain’s defences are an “embarrassment” to the country.
He said: “We were told that these were the grown-ups, these were going to be responsible with national security, that they were going to be the responsible Government and all the rest of it.
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“Well, all of this leadership chaos is just making an embarrassment of ourselves on the world stage and it really isn’t good enough.”
The ex-Tory adviser warned that the Armed Forces and the country’s defence industries “need the investment” to ensure national security.
He told GB News: “It’s a complete and utter mess, and it just shows just how chaotic this Government has become, and there is a need for this investment. There is a need for this plan.
“And in the armed forces and industry, they need certainty. Our defence procurement projects are long projects, they need that investment, they need that plan as soon as possible.
Mr Newton told GB News that Britain’s stance on defence is an ’embarrassment’ on the world stage
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GB NEWS
“And to have this uncertainty, it isn’t good for anybody, and it just advertises us as not a serious country on the world stage.”
Mr Newton concluded that the Government needs to invest at least three per cent in Britain’s defences.
He said: “At the moment, if Starmer were to roll out the existing plan, then that would not be good enough because it goes to 2.68 per cent by 2030. We need three per cent at a bare minimum.
“Perhaps we probably need four or five per cent. The Baltic states are going to five plus per cent of GDP on defence, so we really do need a national debate.
“But there is an urgency as well, given that various intelligence services, including our own chief of defence staff has said that we could potentially be at war with Russia within the next five years. So, there is a real urgency, and this needs to be sorted out.”