Senior No 10 aides to lobby Andy Burnham to invest more than £13.5bn defence spend

British defence spending ‘went from 2.9% in 1936, to 9% in 1939, to 52% of GDP in 1945​,’ well beyond the 2.7% target spend next year. Photograph: Martin Pope/SOPA Images/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen British defence spending ‘went from 2.9% in 1936, to 9% in 1939, to 52% of GDP in 1945​,’ well beyond the 2.7% target spend next year. Photograph: Martin Pope/SOPA Images/Shutterstock Senior No 10 aides to lobby Andy Burnham to invest more than £13.5bn defence spend Downing Street figures plan to convince Burnham to revive ‘war bonds’ when he becomes prime minister Downing Street aides are planning to lobby Andy Burnham during access talks to revive the idea of “war bonds” to pay for higher defence spending when he becomes prime minister, the Guardian understands. Senior No 10 figures want the Treasury to be allowed to borrow more for military spending and will try to convince Burnham to invest beyond the £13.5bn earmarked for the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (Dip). UK defence secretary promises delayed investment plan before Nato summit Read more Defence aides are also understood to have travelled to Makerfield during the byelection campaign to bring Burnham’s team up to speed on the state of the UK’s depleted defence capabilities. Although Burnham is now expected to enter Downing Street with the Dip already signed off, he will still come under heavy pressure from military leaders and others within the government to increase defence spending in the long term. Keir Starmer confirmed on Wednesday he would announce the Dip before the Nato summit in Ankara on 7 and 8 July even though he leaves the following week, with No 10 arguing that while it is a big spending commitment, it is an existing one. But he has faced criticism from some Labour MPs for pressing ahead with such an important policy issue, rather than leaving it to his likely successor who has told them he wants to give the Ministry of Defence (MoD) more than the £13.5bn on offer. Burnham’s allies say that if the row over defence spending has been resolved by the time he takes over – amid signs that a little extra money has been found and the settlement accepted by military leaders – then he would probably just move on. However, his team is reserving the right to reopen the Dip if that is not the case – with, for example, mismanaged programmes such as tanks investment left unaddressed and the concerns of the defence establishment unallayed. Burnham is believed to have held discussions with John Healey at the the likely next prime minister’s request, who pushed Starmer’s premiership to the brink when he quit as defence secretary earlier this week, arguing the Dip fell well short of what was required. On Wednesday the head of the armed forces, air chief marshal Sir Richard Knighton, said that Britain needs to fund capable armed forces that ​can go “toe to toe with Russia” and beyond, because if deterrence ​were to fail​ ​an all out war would be more costly. Emphasising the need