**Burnham defends Israel sanctions at PMQs — Transcript & Summary | SozAI** Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/burnham-defends-israel-sanctions-pmqs/ Opposition leader Kim Band challenges the PM on defense spending and national security at PMQs, debating funding priorities and sovereignty issues. ## Key Takeaways - There is significant political disagreement over the timeline and funding levels for defense spending. - National security threats from Argentina and Russia are used to emphasize urgency in defense funding. - The government aims to balance defense spending with social welfare commitments, opposing severe cuts to housing benefits. - Sovereignty issues regarding the Falklands and Diego Garcia remain contentious topics in the debate. - Calls for cross-party cooperation highlight the complexity of funding defense while maintaining social support systems. ## What the video covers - Opposition leader Kim Band questions the prime minister on the commitment to increase defense spending to 3% of GDP by 2030. - The prime minister defends the government's plan to meet NATO commitments with 3.5% defense spending by 2035, detailed in the upcoming spending review. - Debate highlights past defense spending under Conservative and Labour governments, with accusations of insufficient funding and moral high ground claims. - Kim Band criticizes the government for not funding defense adequately and highlights current threats from Argentina and Russia. - The prime minister emphasizes balancing national security with social welfare, opposing drastic cuts to housing benefits. - Discussion includes the resignation of the chancellor over defense spending disagreements and the impact of tax revenue losses due to wealthy individuals leaving the country. - The opposition accuses the government of planning to surrender British sovereign territory and cutting military training budgets. - The prime minister assures continued defense of British territories like Diego Garcia and the Falklands, affirming support for the islanders' rights. - Both sides debate the best approach to funding defense without harming social security and community resilience. - The session ends with calls for pragmatic solutions and cooperation across party lines to ensure national security. ## Chapters 1. 00:00 Introduction and defense spending confusion 2. 01:00 Government's defense spending commitments 3. 01:43 Historical defense spending debate 4. 02:20 Current threats and defense funding urgency 5. 03:02 Government's commitment to armed forces 6. 03:50 Social welfare vs defense funding debate 7. 04:50 Tax revenue and funding challenges 8. 06:14 Housing policy and welfare spending 9. 07:15 Sovereignty and military base defense 10. 08:12 Closing remarks and calls for cooperation Answers ## Questions about this video What is the main issue discussed in the video? The main issue is the debate over the UK government's commitment to increasing defense spending to meet NATO targets and the balance between national security and social welfare funding. Why did the chancellor resign according to the transcript? The chancellor resigned because the Labour government would not increase defense spending to 3% of GDP by 2030, which he believed was necessary for national security. What are the sovereignty concerns mentioned in the debate? The debate includes concerns about the potential surrender of British sovereign territories such as the Falklands and Diego Garcia, with opposition accusing the government of weak decisions on these issues. ## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown 00:00 Speaker A Leader of the opposition, Kim Band. Mr. Speaker, after last week's session, the country was thrown into confusion over whether the prime minister was or was not going to fund 3% for defense by 2030. 00:18 Speaker A After today, he'll have another 5 weeks off PMQs, but there are some serious threats to national security that cannot wait. His chancellor resigned as defense secretary because the Labor government would not increase defense spending to 3% by 2030. 00:38 Speaker A Does the prime minister think he was right to quit? Mr. Speaker, as I said last week, I appointed this chancellor because of his strong commitment to the defense of this nation. That was the reason why. And we will honor our NATO commitments, 3.5% by 01:00 Speaker A 2035 and a target date for 2023, and that will all be set out in the spending review. Mr. Speaker, I don't feel though that you get the right to come to this house and claim the moral 01:12 Speaker A high ground and point fingers wherever you can when defense spending was 2.3% of GDP and fell during 14 years of a Conservative government. On this issue, I think we should do more problem solving than point scoring. And I say to 01:31 Speaker A the right honorable lady, we would do our armed forces well if we could agree on this crucial issue more across the floor of this house. 01:43 Speaker A Mr. Speaker, the prime minister wants to talk about the past on defense spending. So let me refresh his memory and the house. I remember when he was shadow home secretary when the Labour leader wanted us to leave NATO, disarm our 01:56 Speaker A nuclear deterrent, and defund the army. So I will not be taking any lectures from him. 02:03 Speaker A He says, he says, the target is 2030, is 2035. 2035 is a decade away. If he can't get to 3% by 2030, why should we believe he'll get to 3.5% by 2035? The spending review is next year. Last week I set out 02:20 Speaker A how we would get to 3% by 2030. The threats are now. Argentina is threatening the Falklands now. Russia is threatening us in the North Sea now. And Mr. Speaker, he didn't answer my question. He didn't answer my question. 02:35 Speaker A The chancellor was right to quit. I asked him if he was right to quit. The chancellor was right to quit, which is why it's so wrong that he's not sticking to his principles. The chancellor used to say not hitting 3% by 2030 would put 02:47 Speaker A our troops at risk. He also said Ktorma was unable and the Treasury unwilling to provide that funding. So is the prime minister unable or is he just unwilling to get that money by 2030? 03:02 Speaker A Mr. Speaker, this chancellor of all chancellors will be willing to provide that funding to our armed forces back our defense investment plan. This government's commitment, Mr. 03:15 Speaker A Speaker, to the defense of this country is absolute. We've taken the strongest possible stance in supporting President Zalinski and Ukraine. We are playing our role around the world and we will continue to do so. Mr. Speaker, she mentions the plan that she has set out 03:32 Speaker A and this is why I say we should have an honest conversation across this dispatch box because I looked at it and I don't think myself that taking 4 billion pounds out of housing benefit is going to get the right consensus around this issue 03:50 Speaker A because that would create levels of homelessness in this country, Mr. Speaker, that we wouldn't have seen before. Hundreds of thousands of children in temporary accommodation. Can I say to the right honorable lady, yes, we do everything to support our national 04:09 Speaker A security, but it can't come at the expense of social security. Having strong national security also depends upon having resilience in our communities. This side of the house will not be forced to choose between the two and we will set out a plan to get to 04:32 Speaker A 3.5% by 2035 at the spending review. Unbelievable, Mr. Speaker, that the prime minister would say that he is clearly unwilling. We need to fund our defense, not spend all of our money on welfare. I cannot believe that he would 04:50 Speaker A actually say that. He is clearly unwilling. But, Mr. Speaker, there are ways to do this. He's not unable. There are ways to do this. On Monday, Chris Rockus, Britain's third biggest taxpayer, announced he was leaving the country. That's 330 million pounds of 05:05 Speaker A taxes walking out the door because of this Labor government. Every year, Mr. Speaker, 330 million. His taxes could be going on defense. The prime minister is talking about spending more on welfare. 05:16 Speaker A The benefits bill is set to rise by 32 billion under him. The benefits bill is set to rise by 32 billion. That's not all of it. That's the rise. That money could be going on defense. The prime minister won't approve the Rosebank oil 05:31 Speaker A field. 1.4 billion pounds of tax revenue that could be going on defense. So, will the prime minister tell the country where is he going to find the money to fund our defense? 05:44 Speaker A So, Mr. Speaker, I can't comment today on decisions that are quasi-judicial decisions, but we will take a pragmatic approach to oil and gas as I've said before at this dispatch box. 05:57 Speaker A And let's get to the heart of this question, Mr. Speaker, as she invites me to do, and what is the right way to fund defense and yes, bring the welfare budget down. So, she would make crude cuts to housing benefits. And as I've 06:14 Speaker A said, if you take 4 billion pounds out in the next few years, you will make families homeless. You will increase rough sleeping on our streets. So here's the Labor way, the way that we do it on this side of the house. We have set out 06:32 Speaker A plans for the biggest council house building program this country has seen in a generation. And if you look at research from the National Housing Federation, you will see that is the route to save billions from housing benefits. We will 06:53 Speaker A shortly respond to the final report of Alan Milburn who is looking at the issue of young people not in education, employment, or training. Again, something left behind by the last government. We will take the Labor way, change education, support our young people, 07:15 Speaker A more mental health support. That's the Labor way to get the welfare bill down. And I say to the honorable lady, that is the right way to fund defense. 07:27 Speaker A No, it is not, Mr. Speaker. The truth is he doesn't know where he's going to find the money from. That's what I—he doesn't know where he's going to find the money from. He's talking about anything except defense, council, housing. He won't fund 07:37 Speaker A the military. I tell you what he is funding though, Mr. Speaker. I tell you what he is funding. Karma's 35 billion pound surrender of the Chaos Islands and its crucial military base. That is British sovereign territory. This is a 07:53 Speaker A weak decision and it is no wonder that Argentina is now threatening the Falklands. We need to project strength. We need to show that British sovereign territory is nonnegotiable. 08:07 Speaker A So why, just like Karma, is he planning to surrender the Chaos Islands? Mr. Speaker, I have to say to the right honorable lady, she does have to do better than that. I mean, they are—they are the worst. 08:27 Speaker A They are the worst kind of points to be scoring when the country is watching. 08:32 Speaker A We will not surrender our base at Diego Garcia. We are in discussions with the United States about that and we will always respect the rights of the Falkland Islanders to choose to be British. That will never change under 08:47 Speaker A this government and we will be relentless in defending that. Mr. Speaker, we are talking about paying 35 billion pounds to give away British territory. And all of that is happening while his government is cancelling 30 million pounds of vital training for 09:07 Speaker A British soldiers. The prime minister may be new to the job. So let me tell him what may not be in his briefing paper. 09:13 Speaker A Last year, last year, defense funding fell in real terms. That is on them. To govern is to choose. So why is he choosing to spend 35 billion to send 35 billion pounds to Mauritius when they cut the money to train our troops? 09:32 Speaker A Mr. Mr. Speaker, I don't think she's on strong ground when it comes to defense spending. It was 2.5% of GDP when the last Labor government left office. It was 2.3% of GDP when the government she was in. 09:49 Speaker A left office. It's now set to be 2.7% in the next uh year. So that is the reality of the situation. Uh Mr. 09:59 Speaker A Speaker, a government that is strong on the defense of this country. That is what we are doing. It's why we've set out a defense investment plan that will be fully funded. I say to her again, it would be better to work across the floor 10:17 Speaker A of this house to get a fully and securely funded path to 3.5% of GDP by 2035 that won't change under any government. That would send the strongest possible message to our armed forces. This is an area for problem 10:35 Speaker A solving rather than point scoring. I invite her I invite her to work with us on that so that we can set out that clear path not. 10:46 Speaker A Mr. Speaker, the prime minister seems to think that the last government was a conservative government. The last government was a Labor government and it failed which is why Ktormer resigned. 10:57 Speaker A He keeps talking about their record as if it was fantastic. If it was then why is KTORMA NOT SITTING THERE? Where Britain needs leadership, what we have at the moment is just vibes. He said he appointed the chancellor because he 11:10 Speaker A cares about defense, but he won't fund it. Other countries are making claims over our sovereign territory. They smell weakness. 11:19 Speaker A He's pretending that he's the change candidate, but the fact is he's still failing to cut welfare. He's still paying to hand over a sovereign territory. He is still not funding defense. So on the issues that really matter, isn't he just continuity care? 11:38 Speaker A Mr. Speaker, she mentions leadership. Let me tell her and the whole house where Britain is showing leadership. 11:51 Speaker A There have been conservative politicians at this dispatch box, labor politicians too, for decades who've talked about the importance of the two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. 12:07 Speaker A Words from any politician about a two-state solution will be only words if it's not backed with action. And leadership is about taking action where there is injustice, where we need to correct unfairness, people being driven out of their homes, losing their homes, 12:28 Speaker A being intimidated in their daily lives. I credit the father of the house who yesterday applauded the action that this government is taking. In this difficult and dangerous world, Britain has to stand for something. Britain has to show leadership. Britain has to stand for 12:46 Speaker A fairness against injustice. Where people are being bullied out of their homes intimidated, we will always stand with the underdog and take what action we can to support them. That, Mr. Speaker, is leadership on the world stage. Britain being true to what it's always been 13:03 Speaker A about. That is what the British government, British people expect of us and that is what this government will do. Topics: defense spending national security PMQs Kim Band prime minister NATO commitments Falklands sovereignty housing benefits military funding UK politics Study this video - [Flashcards from this video](https://sozai.app/tools/ai-flashcard-generator/?from=transcript&id=73429) - [Quiz on this video](https://sozai.app/tools/quiz-generator/?from=transcript&id=73429) Free, made by AI from this transcript. No signup. --- This is the markdown twin of https://sozai.app/transcript/burnham-defends-israel-sanctions-pmqs/ — the same content, without the markup. Published by SozAI (https://sozai.app). 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