Keir Starmer to face PMQs for first time since he announced resignation

Sir Keir Starmer will face Prime Minister’s Questions for the first time since he announced his resignation.

The PM’s Commons outing will mark his first public appearance since the emotional statement he made in Downing Street on Monday morning, when he set out a timetable for his exit.

He is likely to face questions about the scope of what his government can now achieve in his final weeks in office, after Downing Street said no “major” new policy decisions or spending pledges would be made before a new Labour leader is chosen.

Andy Burnham, Starmer’s likely successor, has been offered government briefings to prepare for power after Civil Service access talks were authorised by the prime minister.

The pair met on Tuesday, the first time since Burnham’s Westminster return, in a face-to-face meeting that took place away from No 10 and was reportedly “frosty”, according to the Guardian.

A meeting between Sir Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham was said to be ‘frosty’ / Credit: Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror/PA

Despite the promise of no major policy decisions, a row appears to be brewing between Starmer and Burnham over the defence investment plan (Dip), the blueprint for future-proofing the military that sparked the resignation of John Healey as defence secretary earlier this month.

Starmer wants to complete work on the Dip before he leaves Downing Street, so he can present it at the Nato summit in Turkey on July 7, as part of efforts to establish his legacy as prime minister.

The plan now provides some £14 billion extra funding for the armed forces, according to the Times, though this is still far short of the £28 billion military chiefs have called for.

Speaking during a visit to London, former Nato general secretary Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that a UK “spending gap” on defence would be a “matter of concern for Nato”.

Burnham’s camp and allies of Healey have urged the prime minister against publishing the plan until his successor is in place.

Talks are also continuing about who might serve in a Burnham cabinet, and who might advise the former Greater Manchester mayor behind the scenes.

Andy Burnham is seen as the most likely successor to Sir Keir / Credit: Andrew Matthews/PA

Senior Labour figures, including former transport secretary Louise Haigh, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, and former health secretary Wes Streeting, have all been tipped for top jobs in a government led by Burnham.

James Purnell, a former Labour cabinet minister who served alongside Burnham in the Blair government, is meanwhile reportedly being sized up as a chief of staff, the Times said.

Elsewhere, crossbench peer Jim O’Neill – who has been advising Burnham – told the Guardian he wanted to see a new, independent body set up so that extra money could be spent on infrastructure while remaining within Labour’s fiscal rules.

The body could follow the model of the Office for Budget Responsibility, he said, allowing for billions more to be spent on boosting big transport and public works projects.

No other candidate has yet announced they will stand for Labour leadership, meaning Burnham could be chosen without a contest if he secures enough support when nominations close on July 16.

SNP’s Westminster leader, Dave Doogan, has pushed for Burnham to lay out his programme, particularly on the UK’s fiscal rules, re-joining the EU and paving the way for Scotland to hold a second independence referendum.

“Andy Burnham and his allies have been successful in the choreography of removing a prime minister, but choreography isn’t change,” Doogan said.

“The only thing people really know from the last few weeks is that Andy Burnham loves U-turning every bit as much as Keir Starmer.

“Until now, people have been deliberately left in the dark as to what Andy Burnham will actually change when this likely political coronation takes place.

“It is now time that Andy Burnham put that right and actually gave some straight answers on what he intends to deliver as prime minister.”

Though Burnham is the most likely candidate to succeed Starmer, particularly with former health secretary Wes Streeting saying he wouldn’t oppose him, other MPs continue to be discussed as potential leadership contenders.

Former defence minister Al Carns, who followed Mr Healey out the door this month, told the BBC’s Newsnight he was “pretty serious” about launching a leadership bid.

Adding that he wanted to see the policies Burnham was going to champion, he told the programme: “We need to see that material before I can make a decision to back anyone.”