'It was already earmarked!' Andy Burnham's defence spending boost dismantled by ex-Tory MP

Andy Burnham's latest defence spending boost has been dismantled by a former Conservative defence minister, who declared the money was "already earmarked" by the Government.

Speaking to GB News, former Chair of the Defence Select Committee Tobias Ellwood argues the Prime Minister is "leaving it far too late" to bolster Britain's defence capabilities.

The Prime Minister will today announcing £8.4billion in funding for the next phase of the country's nuclear submarine programme.

Mr Burnham claims the investment will help deliver four new Dreadnought class submarines, supporting tens of thousands of British jobs and contributing to 22,000 defence apprenticeships by 2035.

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Speaking later today, Mr Burnham will argue national security can "drive economic growth in every postcode".

Reacting to the pledge by Mr Burnham, Mr Ellwood told the People's Channel it appears to be "very good news".

He said: "We're investing in our most potent line of defence and nuclear deterrence, but this is money that was already earmarked, and it's come very late in the day.

"I should say the old Trident system has been kept working decades after it's passed its sell-by date. Dreadnought, this is the new system that's coming in, should have been operational by now. It's not."

The ex-Tory MP made clear the delay in Dreadnought becoming operational is due to the lack of defence spending by the Government.

He said: "Why was there a delay? Because there's been no money put into defence.

"And it's the absence of investment in the country's defence and security strategy that actually led to John Healey, if you remember, resigning and saying, we've got to spend minimum three per cent on GDP on defence by 2030."

Mr Ellwood warned although Mr Burnham appears to be meeting the Nato target of 3.5 per cent by 2035, the "world will look very different by then".

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He said: "So as much as this looks like a great announcement, the reality is that Andy Burnham is now committed to spend 3.5 per cent by 2035. This is the NATO target.

"I don't know about where you sit, but certainly from where I am looking at things, the world is going to be very different indeed by 2035.

"The types of warfare that are advancing, the threats that are already arriving on Britain's shores, we are leaving it far too late to actually upgrade our defence posture and build our resilience."

Asked by host Dawn Neesom if the earmarked money is "already there" or does the Government now "need to find it from somewhere", Mr Ellwood argued these are "exactly the sort of questions we need to ask".

He concluded: "This was a long, committed program to make sure that we have our continuous at sea nuclear deterrence, and so the Government, of course, is going to make a lot of noise about this, saying this is massive investment.

"But ultimately it was a program that everybody agreed had to take place. Finally we have an announcement, so that is good news, absolutely, and the people in Barrow will be absolutely delighted. But ultimately you are then left with where is the rest of the money going to come from?"

He added: "When you strip away the cost of our nuclear deterrence from our defence and security budget, we slide down to about 13th in the Nato league tables on spending on defence, and that is actually putting our country in harm's way.

"We are telling our adversaries that we're not investing and investing in conventional capabilities, even though we might have a nuclear bomb, and that is not a wise way of making sure that Britain is strong, given the new era of insecurity that we've now entered."

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