Kiran Stacey

So he's saying he's also weak.

So you've got weakness, indecision, a lack of commitment to the nation's security.

All of these things play into all of the doubts that Keir Starmer's critics have about him.

You know, people are now saying, ironically, that the Makerfield by-election might actually be giving Keir Starmer more time in post.

I mean, maybe only a week.

But this is the kind of thing that brings prime ministers down.

Frankly, nobody has said so in open terms.

The closest we've got for an explanation as to how you can bridge this gap is something that Andy Burnham used to say, but has since you turned on, which was you can borrow more.

You can issue specific bonds to pay for defense.

This is something Germany has been doing recently.

In recent weeks, Andy Burnham's, or at least Andy Burnham's allies have clarified that no, he doesn't intend to do that.

And he would stick to the fiscal rules as already set out by this government and not borrow any more than they allow.

That boxes him in to a certain extent.

The reality is he would have been boxed in anyway, because it's not actually the fiscal rules that hem the Chancellor in.

It's how much we are paying on our interest rates when the government borrows money.

And it's the markets who tell you how much you can borrow.

Not your own made up rules.

Your own made up rules are there to reassure the markets.

But essentially, if when you're going out to the market to borrow money, they're saying, OK, but you've got to pay five, six percent interest rates.

I mean, that's not what the government's paying.