The shadow chancellor, Andrew Griffith, says John Healey must set out a fully funded route to defence spending of 3% of GDP by 2030 in today's Budget, or resign.
"By the end of his Budget statement, John Healey must have fully funded 3% defence spending, or resign"
Griffith told LBC: "It's time for John Healey to get a grip, because you cannot have a strong economy without a strong defence". Healey quit as Defence Secretary in June over the same target. He has since said the full timetable will wait for next year's spending review.
The Conservatives say reaching 3% means finding an extra £10bn a year, through "reforming housing benefit" and "reinstating the two-child benefit cap", AOL reports. That is well short of the OBR's estimate that 3% would need an extra £17.3bn in 2029-30.
The shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, called failure to set out a plan a "dereliction of duty", according to Brit Brief. LBC reports that the Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting, accused the Tories of "fantasy economics" and blamed them for under-investing while in office.
City AM, citing the Sunday Times, reports that Healey is expected to channel extra defence money through the National Wealth Fund and the British Business Bank, financed by long-term borrowing. The Treasury has not confirmed this.