The U.K.¡¯s long-awaited Defense Investment Plan leaves several hard choices for Andy Burnham to make if he becomes prime minister, including how to close an almost ?5 billion ($6.6 billion) hole in his first budget.
The plan unveiled by outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday commits an additional ?15 billion to overhaul a depleted British military and quiet American demands for greater military spending by allies. But the program promises only to spend the equivalent of 2.7% of economic output by the end of the decade, short of the 3% sought by former Defense Secretary John Healey.
Moreover, the 10-year plan has only been funded for four years ¡ª at a cost of ?298 billion ¡ª leaving uncertainty over how the remaining years will be paid for. Some ?4.7 billion of the ?15 billion of new money will need to be found in the Labour government¡¯s next budget, which is likely to be Burnham¡¯s first as prime minister, should he remain the only candidate in the leadership election that¡¯s scheduled to start next week.
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