David Cameron brands Keir Starmer 'hopelessly naive' as he warns the 'liberal leftie lawyer' will 'weaken Britain's defences'

David Cameron has branded Sir Keir Starmer 'hopelessly naive' and warned the Labour leader will 'weaken Britain's defences' if he becomes PM on Friday.

The Foreign Secretary said he was 'really shocked' that Sir Keir had yet to match the Conservatives' promise to raise defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030.

Labour has promised to set out a path for reaching the same level of military funding if they win power, but not put a timescale on when they hope to do so.

In a fierce attack on Sir Keir's failure to provide a firmer commitment, Lord Cameron told the Sunday Times: 'Keir Starmer is in danger of weakening Britain's position and weakening Britain's defences. All in a way that's completely unnecessary.'

The former PM also took a swipe at Sir Keir's past career as a barrister, adding: 'The last thing we need in Britain now is another liberal leftie lawyer running the country.'

If he does win the general election, one of the Labour leader's first duties as premier will be to attend a NATO summit in Washington between 9-11 July.

But Lord Cameron suggested Sir Keir would struggle to make the argument that other allies should be spending more on defence.

'You can't argue that others should do more if you aren't doing it yourself,' he said.

Referring to Labour's failure to match the Tories' promise on defence spending, the Foreign Secretary added: 'I was really shocked.

'Given that we had found the money to pay for it, I was absolutely certain Labour would match it.'

He continued: 'Keir Starmer is in danger of weakening Britain's position and weakening Britain's defences. All in a way that's completely unnecessary.' 

In a further attack on the man who is widely expected to replace Rishi Sunak as PM, Lord Cameron also said: 'Labour is hopelessly naive about the dangerous world in which we're living.

'If the next world war is fought between international lawyers, we'll win hands down. 

'But that's not going to be the case, so you've got to make sure you strengthen your defences.

'You strengthen your intelligence and security. The last thing we need in Britain now is another liberal leftie lawyer running the country.'