Burnham's chancellor will have to find extra £4.7bn for defence, says minister

Andy Burnham's government will have to find an extra £4.7bn to fund the defence investment plan announced by the outgoing prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, a defence minster has said. Luke Pollard told the BBC the next chancellor "whoever that may be" will have to "find the resources" in their autumn Budget. In one of his final acts as PM, Sir Keir announced £15bn of spending over the next four years to support a long-awaited plan to boost the UK's defences. But the Treasury said only £10.3bn in savings had currently been identified, meaning Burnham, who is widely expected to take over as prime minister on 20 July, will have to find the resources to plug the gap. Pollard told BBC Breakfast: "Just over £4bn will be set out in the autumn Budget. "Of course, this is pretty standard fare for the government to make an announcement and set out the details at the forthcoming budget. "The last government did it a number of times." Burnham is widely expected to replace Rachel Reeves as chancellor if he, as expected, becomes PM, with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband seen as the frontrunner to step into the crucial role. Pollard said Reeves had set aside more cash for emergencies and "shocks" - known as headroom - in her Budget last November and it would be "up to the next chancellor, whoever that may be, to allocate both the headroom and the resources in the budget this year". …