Andy Burnham has been urged to set out a clear timetable to boost Britain’s defence spending when he meets Donald Trump for the first time this week.
The Prime Minister will hold talks with the US President at the margins of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City on Tuesday, when he is expected to congratulate Trump on securing a new military deal on Greenland.
But military insiders want Burnham to go further and tell the President he will ramp up funding for defence by 0.1 per cent of GDP a year to reach the Nato target of 3.5 per cent by 2035.
While the two leaders have spoken a number of times on the phone since Burnham entered Downing Street in July, the New York meeting will be a crucial first test of their relationship and whether the Prime Minister can repair the fractured ties dating from Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership.
Trump, who has been critical of European Nato countries’ defence spending efforts, will need to be convinced by Burnham that he is serious about funding the military.
But the Prime Minister’s plan to congratulate Trump over the Greenland deal is likely to win favour with the President without being seen as overly flattering and risk backfiring.
Pressure on Burnham to look strong on defence has intensified in the past few weeks amid warnings from the leaders of France and Poland over Russia’s heightened grey-zone activity in Europe.
The Prime Minister and the Chancellor, John Healey – who resigned as defence secretary over a failure of the Starmer government to spend more on the Armed Forces – have pledged the UK will reach 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2035 but have not yet committed to the halfway landmark of 3 per cent by 2030.
Lord Dannatt, the former head of the British Army, told The i Paper: “Burnham should tell Trump that he intends to raise UK defence spending by 0.1 per cent of GDP every year from now until 2035.
“By then it will have hit the 3.5 per cent target. Having told Trump this, he must order John Healey to announce this in the October Budget.
“In this way, defence planners will know exactly how much they have to spend over the next nine years and can place appropriate contracts with industry, large and small, for the equipment, ammunition and logistic support that the UK Armed Forces need.”
In his talks on Tuesday, Burnham is expected to congratulate Trump on securing a new deal with Denmark over US military bases in Greenland, ending months of a diplomatic row and threats by the President to annex the semi-autonomous territory.
On Sunday, Burnham spoke to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen about the deal and the threat posed by Russia.
A No 10 spokeswoman said: “The two leaders began by discussing their upcoming visits to New York for the UN General Assembly.
“The Prime Minister said he would use the trip to drive forward work on issues that matter to people at home, including reducing the cost of living through greater global stability and delivering security for people through closer international partnerships.
“Turning to defence and security, the two leaders discussed the forthcoming signing of a new deal to strengthen security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic area between the US, Greenland and Denmark this week.
“They welcomed the US’ commitment to the region and underlined the strategic and shared importance of the High North for Euro-Atlantic security.
“The Prime Minister congratulated Prime Minister Frederiksen and the Kingdom of Denmark on negotiating a deal benefitting the US, Greenland and Denmark, and said he would pass on his congratulations to President Trump.
“The leaders also discussed the situation in Ukraine, and the Prime Minister said he hoped to make further progress with partners on stepping up support for Ukraine during UNGA and in the coming weeks.”