Kemi Badenoch has accused Andy Burnham of “fiddling while Europe is at risk of burning”, as she repeated her call for the prime minister to cut the welfare budget to fund increase spending on defence.
Speaking to the Telegraph, the Tory leader said that “Burnham may be a people pleaser but difficult choices cannot be avoided through dither and delay”.
She said the government had to “fund our defence properly” at a time when former military chiefs have raised questions about Britain’s preparedness for war.
Badenoch said: “Our government is fiddling while Europe is at risk of burning. In France and Poland, leaders are taking action now against the growing Russian threat. What is our government doing? Has anyone heard from Wes Streeting, the former head of the National Union of Students, who has rocked up as defence secretary?”
Discourse on the “welfare v warfare” debate has grown louder in recent days since Burnham’s comments during prime minister’s questions on 9 September that national security could not “come at the expense of social security”.
The Tory leader said Burnham was sending a “dangerous” message that he would not cut welfare to fund the military, which was “heard loud and clear in Moscow as well as Manchester”.
She added: “We have to stop pretending that we are living in a carefree end of history when Russia is testing our resolve week after week. It’s time to get serious.”
The UK has promised to commit 3.5% of national income to defence by 2035, in line with a pledge by Nato members, but there is growing pressure on the chancellor, John Healey, to outline how further increases will be achieved before next month’s budget.
Adm Lord West, a former security minister under Gordon Brown, said Britain’s military was in “quite a parlous state”.
“In many ways, one could argue we are already at war. We are certainly in the grey zone – whether it’s cyber-attacks, drones getting near the edge of somewhere or threats to underwater cables,” he added.
Lord Dannatt, a former chief of the general staff, said: “My bottom line is that Andy Burnham, and regretfully I would now add John Healey, are playing fast and loose with the nation’s security.”
The Conservatives have proposed capping housing benefit to raise £4bn to spend on defence. The party has rejected suggestions that the policy would make people homeless but suggested some would have to “move somewhere cheaper.”
The Tories will hold their annual conference in Birmingham in two weeks.
