MoD Plans Investment in Drone Technology
Andy Burnham's government will need to secure an additional £4.7bn to finance the defence investment plan announced by outgoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, according to a defence minister.
Luke Pollard told the BBC that the next chancellor, "whoever that may be," must "find the resources" in their autumn Budget.
In one of his final acts as Prime Minister, Sir Keir announced £15bn of spending over the next four years to support a long-awaited plan to strengthen the UK's defences.
However, the Treasury has identified only £10.3bn in savings so far, meaning Burnham, who is widely expected to become Prime Minister on 20 July, will have to address the shortfall.
Funding Gap and Budget Implications
Pollard told BBC Breakfast:
"Just over £4bn will be set out in the autumn Budget.
Of course, this is pretty standard fare for the government to make an announcement and set out the details at the forthcoming budget.
The last government did it a number of times."
Burnham is widely anticipated to replace Rachel Reeves as chancellor if he becomes Prime Minister, with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband considered the frontrunner for the chancellor role.
Pollard noted that Reeves had allocated additional funds for emergencies and "shocks"—referred to as headroom—in her Budget last November, and it would be "up to the next chancellor, whoever that may be, to allocate both the headroom and the resources in the budget this year."
He expressed his support for Burnham and hope that he would become Prime Minister, but also revealed that Burnham was only informed about the £4.7bn defence funding gap on Tuesday.
Pollard told :
"Downing Street have a close dialogue with Andy's team … I understand they've been keeping him close to the process, and told him yesterday when the Treasury published the statement and the breakdown of the financial costs."
Defence Secretary Comments on Funding
Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis said there would need to be "conversations" with the next Prime Minister regarding funding for the armed forces, but insisted it was "not unreasonable" to present these plans at a "major fiscal event" such as the next Budget.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to missile manufacturer Cambridge Aerospace, Jarvis said:
"I think we made really good progress yesterday with the publication of the plan, and that was helpful because it ended the uncertainty that had been around it.
But yes, I will want to do more and go further, and it's my job, working with the chiefs, to make sure that we secure the resource, the investment that we need into defence to honour the commitments that we have made, which I am absolutely determined that we will keep."
Burnham has not yet commented on how he plans to find the additional funds or whether he would consider increasing the defence budget further.
One Burnham ally described the funding gaps in Tuesday's defence plan as "another spending pressure" he will need to manage.
Details of the Defence Investment Plan
In a speech on Tuesday, Sir Keir stated that the defence investment plan (DIP), initially expected last autumn, would reverse the "corrosive hollowing out" of the armed forces under the Conservative government.
Under the plan, overall defence spending will increase from 2.6% of national income in 2027 to 2.7%, or nearly £80bn, by 2030.
He added that the UK is on track to spend 3% of GDP on defence in the next five-year Parliament, though he did not specify a precise date for this target, which defence chiefs and former Defence Secretary John Healey had requested.
Sir Keir also said the DIP would position the UK to meet NATO's core defence spending target of 3.5% of GDP by 2035.
The outgoing Prime Minister ruled out additional borrowing to fund the increase, stating that the money would be found by reducing the long-term investment budgets of other government departments by 1%.
The Department for Transport is implementing further savings of £700m from roads projects, with the A38 Derby Junctions and A46 Newark Bypass schemes under consideration for cancellation.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) is identifying an additional £2bn in savings from its budget, with more detailed plans expected in the autumn.
- Chris Mason: Starmer's defence plan leaves crunching trade‑offs for Burnham to confront
- Why Starmer's defence plan leaves next PM with £4.7bn headache
- Starmer trims budgets to fund extra £15bn for defence
