Burnham must answer questions on defence, says Badenoch

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has criticised Andy Burnham for not yet addressing defence or major global issues publicly.

Speaking at a rally in central London on Tuesday, Badenoch said that if Burnham is a “prime minister-in-waiting”, he must address questions from MPs before they leave Parliament for summer recess.

Defence was the main focus of Badenoch’s speech as she lashed out at the Labour Party for turning Westminster into “a pantomime” at a time when Britain “cannot be facing a more serious situation”.

Directing her ire first at Sir Keir Starmer, Badenoch said the outgoing prime minister was now “powerless” as he travelled to his final international engagement at the Nato summit in Turkey.

“Burnham wants a summer holiday, (Nigel) Farage is in hiding, Starmer is retiring.” She added: “But all of this is happening right at the time when difficult decisions need to be made.

“Silly season is not for the people running the country.

“Britain needs some grown-ups in the room, but they don’t appear to be any outside the Conservative Party.”

Badenoch also attacked Burnham’s record on defence so far, accusing Labour of not realising “that that the problems with the Defence investment plan have not gone away just because Andy Burnham is arriving to their rescue”.

“Have you actually heard Andy Burnham say anything about the threats we face?” she added.

Andy Burnham is considered prime minister-in-waiting after the resignation of Sir Keir Starmer. / Credit: PA

The Conservative leader also claimed he had issued no response to the close encounter between a Russian reconnaissance plane and the UK’s carrier strike group in the Arctic.

“The RAF intercepted a Russian warplane,” she said, “It was dropping sonar devices right next to a British aircraft carrier.

“What did Andy Burnham say? Nothing.”

She then challenged Mr Burnham to delay Parliament’s recess dates by a “day or two” so MPs can ask him questions about his agenda for government ahead of the summer.

“I do think that he’s got some serious questions to answer.

“He should come to Parliament and answer those questions if he really is the prime minister-in-waiting, needs to start acting like it,” Badenoch said.

However, was also questioned by reporters about how the Conservatives would fund defence spending.

She said the party would largely seek to make up shortfalls in spending through welfare cuts, but acknowledged other areas of spending would also need to be reprioritised.

When the Conservative leader was asked how she would get the funding for 3.5% of GDP on defence spending, Badenoch said: “We haven’t found the money to 3.5% but there is no other party that has found as much money as the Conservatives and we’re continuing to do the work to make sure that we find more so that we can keep our country safe.”

Asked whether tax rises would be completely off the table to fund defence spending, Badenoch said: “If we tax so much that the businesses disappear, then we’re not going to have the money for defence.”