Why Labour won’t be bounced by Sunak’s defence plans

British politics in recent years has sometimes resembled a waltz. Both main parties show little compunction in mirroring each other’s plans, stealing their opponents’ popular policies and playing down the differences which characterised the Corbyn years. So it was striking to see Labour’s reticence this week to sign up to Sunak’s much-vaunted plan to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030.

Both Keir Starmer and John Healey, the Shadow Defence Secretary, have invested much time and effort over the past four years in trying to nullify the Tories’ traditional lead in this area. At the last election barely one in ten voters trusted their party on defence and national security; now polls suggest that Labour leads on this issue. Given the hard-won gains in this area, why not simply go along with Sunak’s announcement, rather than allow the likes of Grant Shapps to claim that their stance on defence amounts to one of ‘delay, disruption and obfuscation’?

For Labour, the answer is twofold.