Burnham suggests he will not slash benefits bill to fund defence spending but will increase it the 'Labour way'
Speaking during Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday, Mr Burnham said that the Government was "absolutely" committed to raising defence spending to 3.5% by 2035
Andy Burnham has insisted that the government has a "fully funded plan" to increase defence spending the "Labour way" - as the Conservative leader branded him "continuity Keir".
Listen to this article
Speaking during Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday, Mr Burnham said that the Government was "absolutely" committed to raising defence spending to 3.5% by 2035.
The exchange follows confirmation from the Treasury that the Chancellor will not commit to spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030 when he unveils his October budget.
A spokesperson said the spending review would set out a "clear path" to meet the 3.5% cent Nato target by 2035.
Asked by the Conservative leader whether Mr Burnham was "unable or just unwilling" to hit the 3% target by 2030, Mr Burnham said: "She would make crude cuts to housing benefit and as I’ve said if you take £4 billion out in the next few years, you will make families homeless, you will increase rough sleeping on our streets."
He insisted that the Government would bring down defence spending "the Labour way" by building more council homes and bringing down housing benefit.
Read more: 'Conflict is coming': How much does the UK spend on defence?
"We will change education, support our young people, more mental health support," he said.
"That's the Labour way to get the welfare bill down. And I say to the honourable lady, that is the right way to fund defence."
Mr Burnham also attacked the Ms Badenoch for taking the "moral high ground", despite defence spending falling to 2.3% under the Conservatives.
The opposition leader hit back by accusing Mr Burnham of "surrendering" the Chagos Islands, which are home to the Diego Garcia military base, by pushing ahead with a £35 billion deal to hand them back to Mauritius.
"This is a weak decision, and it is no wonder that Argentina is now threatening the Falklands," she said.
Hitting back, the PM claimed the Government would "not surrender our base at Diego Garcia" and continued that the UK would "relentlessly defend the right of the Falklanders to be British".
Ms Badenoch responded that other countries "smell weakness" and were "making claims over our sovereign territory".
"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 defence.
"So on the issues that really matter, isn't he just continuity Keir?"
The opposition leader chose not to focus on the foreign secretary's condemnation on Tuesday of "ethnic cleansing" by "settler terrorists" in occupied parts of the West Bank.
But Mr Burnham ended the exchange by highlighting the Government's imposition of sanctions on parts of the occupied West Bank an example of "leadership".
He said: "In this difficult and dangerous world, Britain has to stand for something. Britain has to show leadership. Britain has to stand for fairness against injustice."
On Tuesday morning Ed Miliband announced a fresh package of tougher sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in unison with France and Canada, including a ban on goods produced there and an embargo on weapons exports that “materially” support them.
The Israeli government has “turned a blind eye” to the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in the West Bank by “settler terrorists”, Ed Miliband told the House of Commons yesterday as he announced a major shift in the Government's stance.