The incoming Prime Minister set out his foreign policy ambitions as Keir Starmer attended the Nato summit with other world leaders in Turkey
Prime Minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham has vowed to rebuild the UK's "hard power" by allocating billions of extra defence spending to British firms.
Mr Burnham, in his first foreign policy intervention, wants to steer defence procurement away from European and American companies and boost homegrown firms.
He said he wanted to "level with" the public about the amount of money required to meet the UK's promise to Nato to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2035.
The additional money, Mr Burnham has said, will be ploughed into "regenerating and reindustrialising the country", with efforts to boost British jobs and workers.
The Makerfield MP said reducing foreign reliance was "critical for both our economic and national security" and would be a key focus of his upcoming premiership.
Despite arguing he would step away from foreign reliance for defence procurement, Mr Burnham said he would build stronger relations with Europe on security.
He also said he would aim for quicker negotiations with the EU more broadly, such as tackling illegal migration and turbocharging economic growth.
Support for international law and institutions such as the UN would continue while he is in office, he added.
