Prime Minister Andy Burnham has affirmed that an increase in defence spending will not be achieved “at the expense” of benefits. During Prime Minister’s Questions, Burnham stated that “national security can’t come at the expense of social security” in response to criticism from Tory leader Kemi Badenoch regarding the government's defence spending plans.
Burnham specifically criticised the Conservative proposal to cut housing benefits by £4bn to fund defence spending. He argued that such cuts would lead to unprecedented levels of homelessness and create hundreds of thousands of children in temporary accommodation.
The welfare budget is projected to increase from 10.7% of GDP currently to 11.1% by 2030, representing a rise of just under £40bn between the current financial year and 2029-30. Pensioner spending is forecast to increase from £169.2bn to £187.5bn, and disability benefits from approximately £50.2bn to £61.1bn.
In contrast, the defence budget is set to rise to 2.7% of GDP next year. The government has not yet unveiled clear funding plans to reach 3.5% of the UK economy by 2035, a Nato commitment. The government is also tasked with finding about £15bn over four years in additional taxes and spending cuts to support the current Defence Investment Plan.