Keeping Britain safe from hostile powers is Andy Burnham's most fundamental responsibility.

While he was absolutely right to show our unstinting support for Ukraine by sharing classified information on weaponry, the Prime Minister must also be prepared to deal with potentially far-reaching consequences from Russia.

The language emanating from the Kremlin is distinctly menacing. It suggests the Government's actions are seen in Moscow as almost tantamount to sending British troops to fight alongside Ukrainian forces.

According to a senior security source who spoke to the Mail's Dan Hodges, there has been 'chatter' for at least two weeks that the Russians are 'planning some sort of action against UK interests'.

This is the first big wake-up call on defence of the Burnham premiership. The fact that the nation will be reminded to stock up on water supplies and tinned food in a new campaign is an acknowledgement of the seriousness of the threat from overseas.

But there is no sign that the PM has any intention of doing the obvious thing and bolstering our vastly depleted military capabilities. Since his arrival in No 10, both he and Defence Secretary Wes Streeting have refused to commit to the 2030 target of increasing defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP.

Mr Burnham has instead indicated that he will meet an entirely different Nato goal with a deadline of 2035 - by which time, of course, he could have long since vacated Downing Street for pastures new. 

Granted, there is the remaining hope that Chancellor John Healey - who resigned the defence portfolio earlier this year in a dispute over spending - will step up to the plate when he delivers his Budget in October. But the deafening silence on military spending in the past six weeks hardly inspires confidence.

Since receiving the keys to No 10, Mr Burnham has concentrated almost exclusively on affairs closer to home. There is no greater domestic issue, of course, than the defence of the realm.

We can only hope it doesn't take a vengeful Putin regime targeting British infrastructure before the PM realises that.

At its core, the dogma of socialism is based on an insatiable appetite for the property and assets of people who have worked hard and done well for themselves in life.

So there is little out of the ordinary about a report from the Institute for Public Policy Research - a Left-leaning think-tank - urging the Government to carry out a wealth tax raid on older generations.

Of course, it is deeply concerning that this call is coming as the so-called mansion tax is set to be inflicted on people whose only crime has been to work hard, save up and buy a nice family home.

But it is even more worrying that this exactly the type of thing that Mr Burnham will think is a very good idea indeed.

The news on Britain's immigration crisis gets less surprising by the day.

Certainly, few eyebrows are likely to be raised at a poll showing three in four Britons opposed to allowing in male migrants from countries where rape and domestic violence are commonplace.

At any time over the past 20 years, a random survey conducted on high streets or in pubs would have produced similar results. What an awful pity that successive governments weren't listening.