I worked in No 10 – if Burnham is phased by £5bn, he isn't fit to be PM

Team Burnham are up in arms over the defence funding landmine Sir Keir Starmer has laid for them.

In one of his last acts as Prime Minister, Starmer has finally unveiled the Defence Investment Plan but the fine print blindsided his successor, who will have to find £5bn to fully fund it. Makerfield MP Andy Burnham will face questions about where the cash will come from as soon as he walks into Downing Street – or No 10 North – in less than three weeks’ time.

It was Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s attempt to cut a similar sum from welfare that triggered the rebellion, which blew up Starmer’s premiership. So defusing this parting gift looks a tricky task for Burnham and his chancellor.

But, in truth, £5bn is peanuts compared to the £1trn-plus that the Government spends, and anyone phased by it isn’t fit to be PM.

Moreover, the way that the Government’s fiscal rules operate means that the £5bn problem could just disappear. Wildly varying economic forecasts make meeting these rules, which Burnham has backed, like landing a jumbo jet on a tiny, moving airstrip.