Burnham faces £4.7 billion defence gap as Widdecombe murder probe continues

Police arrested a 28-year-old white British man in Rotherham on Saturday, July 11. Devon and Cornwall Police say there is nothing to suggest Ann Widdecombe’s killing was politically motivated or linked to terrorism. Devon and Cornwall Police believe Widdecombe was attacked around 12.30pm on Wednesday and found dead at her home in Haytor, on the edge of Dartmoor, at about 11.40am on Thursday.

The force says it is not looking for anyone else in connection with the murder. More than 120 public tips have been received, and a 26-year-old man arrested earlier in the inquiry has been released from custody and is no longer part of the case. Widdecombe served as Conservative MP for Maidstone and then Maidstone and The Weald between 1987 and 2010, took part in the Vote Leave campaign in 2016, joined the Brexit Party in 2019 and became Reform UK’s immigration and justice spokesperson in 2023. Reform UK has since provided 24-hour security for its MPs, and Nigel Farage called her death a "terrible reflection on modern Britain."

Andy Burnham returned to Westminster by winning the Makerfield by-election on June 18 with 24,927 votes, 54.8 per cent of the vote on a 58.7 per cent turnout, and now faces questions over how he would bridge a £4.7 billion defence funding gap if he were to become prime minister. Keir Starmer’s defence plan added £15 billion in spending, with about a third still unfunded when it was announced, and Starmer called it the biggest sustained increase in defence funding for 45 years. Nominations opened on July 9 and close on July 16, and Burnham has 322 nominations from 403 Labour MPs.