UK Defence Investment Plan Faces £4.7bn Gap

Prime Minister Keir Starmer was forced on the defensive at PMQs over the government's £298 billion defence investment plan, which critics say leaves a nearly £5 billion funding shortfall.

The Conservative leader accused the PM of a plan that 'doesn't add up', while Starmer insisted any Labour prime minister would stand behind it.

The funding gap presents an unexploded bomb for Andy Burnham, the favourite to succeed Starmer, who will inherit the fiscal challenge.

Reform UK demanded answers over what it called a 'black hole' in the defence budget.