I’ll quit if Burnham fails to find billions to rebuild Britain’s Armed Forces, vows new Defence Sec Wes Streeting

DEFENCE Secretary Wes Streeting yesterday vowed to quit if PM Andy Burnham fails to stump up the billions needed to rebuild Britain’s Armed Forces. The Cabinet minister said fully funding Labour’s Defence Investment Plan was a “matter of principle” and said he would resign if the money failed to materialise. Wes Streeting vowed to quit if PM Andy Burnham fails to stump up the billions needed to rebuild Britain’s Armed Forces Credit: PA It comes as Mr Burnham refused to commit to lifting defence spending to three per cent of GDP Credit: PA The Government must plug a £4.7billion black hole in the plan over the next five years, on top of finding £10.3billion of savings from elsewhere across Whitehall. Mr Streeting insisted that the DIP “will be fully funded” with Chancellor John Healey expected to set out the specifics at future fiscal events. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! It comes as Mr Burnham refused to commit to lifting defence spending to three per cent of GDP. He told the BBC his “first challenge” was making sure the DIP was fully-funded ahead of the Budget, but would not give an answer to when exactly Britain would reach the three per cent target. Mr Healey long championed the demand himself before he entered the Treasury. He quit as Sir Keir Starmer’s Defence Secretary over the failure to stick to a firm timetable for the key spending target. The Office for Budget Responsibility has estimated reaching three per cent by the end of the decade would cost an extra £17.3billion a year. Meanwhile, Mr Streeting backed Donald Trump’s calls for Europe to shoulder more of the burden for its own security — but insisted the Government would not “suck up” to the US President. Most read in The Sun Mr Burnham also said he would put the UK’s interests first in dealings with Mr Trump, even if it means disagreeing with him. Comment now