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Starmer gives Burnham a £4.7bn hole in defence spending as a goodwill token | John Crace

The Guardian Politics Wednesday 01 July 2026, 16:30 UTC By John Crace 1 min read
Key Points

The PM bats away criticism from Kemi Badenoch over military funding but leaves behind a headache for his likely successorThe search for the perfect present to welcome Andy Burnham to No 10 has been a worry for Keir Starmer. What do you give the man who seems to have everything? The support of his own MPs.

The PM bats away criticism from Kemi Badenoch over military funding but leaves behind a headache for his likely successor

The search for the perfect present to welcome Andy Burnham to No 10 has been a worry for Keir Starmer. What do you give the man who seems to have everything? The support of his own MPs. The belief that Nigel Farage is beatable. The sense of being at ease with himself. Comfortable with who he is. The charisma. The ability to hold a room. Everything Keir would have wanted.

He needed a small Welcome to Downing Street gift, a token of friendship. To show there was no bad feeling about losing his job.

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Starmer (PERSON) Burnham a £ (ORG) John Crace (PERSON) Kemi Badenoch (PERSON) Andy Burnham (PERSON) Keir Starmer (PERSON) Nigel Farage (PERSON) Keir (PERSON)
Originally published by The Guardian Politics Read original →

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