THE Scottish National Party has challenged Sir Keir Starmer to “come clean” on what will be cut to fund his £15 billion commitment to spending on war.

With only a fortnight left in office, the Prime Minister announced plans to ramp up spending on arms to 2.5 per cent of GDP next year, but so far the Treasury – through slashing spending in areas such as roads and energy – has only found £10.3bn of cuts to fund the armaments spending spree.

That leaves a £4.7bn gap for his likely successor Andy Burnham, and has fuelled fears more cuts could be on the way.

SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan, who last week accused Westminster of having “decimated” the armed forces, and whose party leader John Swinney publicly backed the 2.5 per cent target in February, has now demanded to know “where the axe will fall” to pay for it all.

He said: “Families will be concerned to hear that the Labour government’s long-delayed and unfunded defence plans could take vital money away from Scotland’s schools, hospitals, roads and the other front-line public services, which we all depend upon.

“The fact that Andy Burnham’s team are claiming he wasn’t even briefed on the missing money shows the chaos and dysfunction at the centre of the Labour government, and means a Burnham government will be responsible for piling an additional £4.7bn of cuts on cuts.

“It isn’t right that the Scottish government, and the governments of Wales and Northern Ireland, have been kept in the dark about the scale of the cuts coming down the line from Westminster. 

“The Labour Party must be straight with voters.”

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) was contacted for comment.