Burnham calls for ‘more open’ public debate about defence spending – UK politics live

Good morning. Andy Burnham is due to become Labour leader a week tomorrow and, as nominations open for a leadership election that will not happen because Burnham is set to be elected unopposed, we are learning a bit more about how he intends to lead his party and his country. Yesterday, in a letter to Labour MPs, Burnham told them he would never use party discipline to “stifle debate” and says they should raise problems and policy ideas “without fear or favour”. Jessica Elgot has the story here. Burnham promises Labour MPs he will not use party discipline to ‘stifle debate’ Read more The full text of the letter is available here . And Burnham has also published an article in the Times in which he has set out the core elements of his thinking on foreign policy. Burnham’s campaign in Makerfield was all about “change”, but what is striking about this article is how much continuity it implies with the policies of Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves. He says that he wants “a Britain that is more resilient” and that he wants to “simultaneously defend our national security, protect and grow our economy and make our nation stronger”. Reeves even coined her own word for this approach: securonomics. Here are the main points. Burnham says he wants a “more open” public debate and scrutiny of defence spending. He says: double quotation mark Doing politics differently means levelling with the public, engaging them in decisions and ensuring more social value in return for increased government spending. I want to be more open with the public about how and where defence funding is spent. For our biggest defence and infrastructure projects, I want to see more detailed, public progress updates, with more transparency and accountability to tackle cost overruns or delays before they spiral out of control. Our increased investment must be combined with an increase in scrutiny. This sounds like a warning shot to the Ministry of Defence over how it handles defence procurement (badly, according to most experts). The article talks about defence spending in terms of principles; it does not say anything about the amount of money he would spend on it – the argument at the heart of the debate about the defence investment plan. Burnham confirms he will keep Jonathan Powell in place as national security adviser. He says national security will be his “first priority if I become prime minister”. He says he wants to use higher defence investment to boost economic growth. double quotation mark In response to the evolving threats we face, and as we meet our Nato commitments, it is right that we rebuild our hard power for a new era that is very different to the one in which much of our current military equipment was first designed. Crucially, as we do so, I want to ensure we back British workers and businesses. This means we must go much further than ever before through the defence investment plan in backing British resilience, using a sustained increase in defence investment not only to