Popping the benefits balloon might be uncomfortable… but Army of Brits queuing for the dole is not going to protect us

THERE are times when you should not believe a word a politician says – and there are times when you should take them deadly seriously. When a Labour Prime Minister admits to scrimping on defence to prop up a monster welfare state, you’d best sit up, ­listen and then start panicking. PM Andy Burnham has essentially admitted to scrimping on defence to prop up Britain’s monster welfare state Credit: AFP An army of Brits queuing for the dole is not going to protect us from rising global threats Credit: Getty Four decades on from Ronald Reagan’s famous quote about official incompetence — “Government is not the solution to our problem; government IS the problem” — out of Andy Burnham’s mouth came possibly the 18 scariest words in the English language. “We do everything to support our ­national security, but it can’t come at the expense of social security.” Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The immortal line crashed through PMQs like a Manchester tram and left me picking my jaw off the floor and screwing my eyes back into their sockets. Had I misheard? A quick rewind ­confirmed not. Or had he misspoke, ­perhaps? But there was no rush to correct the record. Here was the man tasked with keeping our country safe actually suggesting on the floor of the House of Commons that welfare comes above ­warfare. Keeping us safe from Putin’s bombs is all well and good, but God forbid we turn down a fit note request for anxiety. That national security is the single most sworn and solemn duty of any premier has been the position since time immemorial. Yet the suggestion now is that renewing our clapped-out military hardware can take a back seat while the PIP forms pile up. Most read in The Sun Burnham has failed to guarantee a rise to three per cent by 2030, which was part of the reason why Chancellor Healey resigned as Defence Secretary under Starmer Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Kemi could scarcely believe the marmalade-dropper admission she had prised out of the PM, pictured ripping into Burnham at PMQs Credit: Reuters The gladiatorial bloodsport of PMQs can make a cropper of even the most skilled orator, but this was hardly an unexpected ambush by Kemi Badenoch. For months, every top brass has been warning of the desperate need to rise to global threats by hiking defence spending. Burnham has pledged to hit the Nato target of 3.5 per cent GDP by 2035, albeit without saying how he would pay for it. But spectacularly he has failed to guarantee a rise to three per cent by 2030, which was part of the reason why his new Chancellor John Healey resigned as Defence Secretary under Keir Starmer. Badenoch could scarcely believe the marmalade-dropper admission she had prised out of the PM, and was fleet- footed enough to cry that it was ­“unbelievable”. “I can’t believe he would actually say that,” she said, barely containing her Cheshire cat grin. It was a gift to his rivals, and within seconds the Tory machine started to purr into life with attack ads being drawn up and pushed out. Burnham later scrambled to clarify that he DOES want to see the welfare bill fall, just not the “crude” cuts proposed by the Conservatives. He lashed out at Badenoch for “point-scoring” rather than problem-solving — something that might have carried more weight had he not himself indulged in Punch and Judy politics. To salvage the session, at one point he even launched into an unprompted, ­pre-scripted ramble about his new Israel sanctions. Unfortunately, there was no rescuing the utter car crash and all anyone would take from the session was the penny-pinching on security. Whether said on purpose or blurted out in the heat of the moment (Downing Street will not say), it confirmed people’s worst fears about Labour’s priorities. ‘Government is not the solution to our problem; government IS the problem’, says Reagan Credit: AFP or licensors Is Burnham brave enough to pop the benefits balloon? Credit: Alamy It is a staggering example of what we in the trade call “saying the quiet bit out loud”. Everyone knows that Labour MPs are ultra-squeamish about making any cuts at all to the welfare bill, and here was the PM confirming it. At the post-PMQs Downing Street briefing, Burnham’s spokesman repeatedly failed to say that the monster benefits spending would be falling — not increasing — by the next election. I wrote in these pages last month that the PM was in danger of falling into the same traps as Keir Starmer, ducking the hard decisions to avoid a backbench mutiny. Badenoch may have pinched my line yesterday when she branded him “Continuity Keir”, but it perhaps speaks to something endemic within Labour that will be hard to root out. Welfare Secretary Pat McFadden said as much when he texted Peter Mandelson, moaning that all his colleagues demand to know is “who to tax to pay for benefits”. Now more than ever, it is time for the party to pull their heads from the sand and give them a gentle wobble. The total welfare bill, including ­pensions, is set to hit £400billion by the end of the decade, dwarfing the £80billion expected for Armed Forces spending. Popping the benefits balloon might be uncomfortable for some comrades but reality will bite one way or another. As the world becomes more dangerous, the army of Brits queuing for the dole is not going to protect us. Perhaps this is one battle Burnham would be wise to pick. Comment now