UK politics live: Andy Burnham warned he will have to raise taxes on middle classes to fund defence spending

A think tank has warned Andy Burnham that he must be prepared to raise taxes for middle earners if he wishes to raise defence spending.

After quitting Sir Keir Starmer ’s government in June over this issue, his chancellor John Healey has made clear he will wait until next year’s spending review to present a plan to meet Labour ’s pledge of devoting 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2035 to defence.

The Resolution Foundation thinktank has warned that he will not be able to raise the necessary £28bn a year without asking average earners to pay more.

Meanwhile, Mr Burnham will be grilled by MPs in his first Prime Minister’s Questions since succeeding Sir Keir .

With parliament back from summer recess, the Makerfield MP on Tuesday addressed the House of Commons for the first time since becoming prime minister .

He said that Britain needs to be “blunt” about what has gone wrong in recent decades, and must spread power to people and places across the country to kickstart economic growth.

On Wednesday, he will face Kemi Badenoch at the despatch box and it is expected that the Conservative leader will quiz the former mayor of Greater Manchester on the possibility of tax rises and Britain’s defence spending.

Andy Burnham will stick “rigidly” to the Government’s fiscal rules, a minister has said amid rising borrowing costs.

Asked about comments by Lord Jim O’Neill, an ally of the Prime Minister, suggesting international investors would not have approved of Mr Burnham’s “tone” in the Commons on Tuesday, Cabinet Office minister Sally Jameson said she disagreed.

She told Sky News: “I think it’s important we don’t over-read into individual comments people make, because I think Andy Burnham has been really clear that we are going to stick to those fiscal rules rigidly, and that fiscal responsibility is absolutely imperative.”

She added: “We’ve got to have controls on spending, and I don’t think Andy or anyone else has said any different to that.

“But I think the key thing is having growth and bringing optimism back into this country.”

It is unrealistic for the UK to increase defence spending without higher taxes for middle earners, think tank the Resolution Foundation has said.

Chancellor John Healey resigned from Sir Keir Starmer’s government in June, arguing that the then-prime minister was failing to fund defence properly.