Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called for a £10bn annual increase in UK defence spending and urged the government to pursue sweeping welfare cuts, arguing that Britain must strengthen its economy and military capabilities as the risk of conflict with Russia rises.
In a speech on Thursday, Badenoch also called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to abandon the Chagos Islands agreement and adopt measures she said could raise £10bn a year for defence.
She attacked Labour’s spending priorities and accused the government of being “addicted to welfare”, arguing that Britain would struggle to respond to a military crisis without a stronger economic base.
“If a Nato country is attacked by Russia between now and the next general election, the Prime Minister cannot defend us by capping bus fares.
“If we are going to fund our defence properly, we need a stronger economy.
“We need the right ideas to create growth, not the failed ideas of the 1970s. Andy Burnham is stuck in the past, we are the future. Andy Burnham doesn’t understand that government doesn’t create growth. People do.
“Conservatives believe in growth, opportunity and getting the Government out of people’s way.”
Badenoch argued that higher defence spending was unavoidable as European governments respond to a deteriorating security environment.
“National security doesn’t just happen. We have to pay for it. And that means spending more money on defence.
“Being an island might make us feel safer, but it doesn’t prevent conflict from coming to us. Let’s be honest. Conflict is coming. We must act now because the defense of the nation is the first duty of government.”
She said Britain needed to learn from European allies that had increased military spending and broadened their definition of national security beyond traditional armed forces.
“National security is not just about tanks, boots on the ground and planes in the air. It is about our cyber defenses.
“It is about our energy security. It is about our country’s resilience. National security doesn’t just happen. We have to pay for it. And that means spending more money on defense.
“Britain’s allies are getting ready for what’s to come. Poland is building an army of 300,000 people. That is more than triple ours.
“Germany has doubled their defence spending in the last five years, and is on course to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2035.
“Greek warships had to rush to protect our military base in Cyprus while HMS Dragon was stuck in Portsmouth. I was in Greece last week and I met their Prime Minister, and he told me how they are already spending 3.5 per cent”
It’s time to get serious on defence. https://t.co/8mSU2M94mX
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) September 3, 2026
Badenoch also warned that an attack on a Nato member could draw Britain directly into a war with Russia.
“Before the summer, Keir Starmer was given intelligence that Russia could launch an attack on Nato as soon as 2030.
“Not enough politicians in parliament have fully appreciated what that means by that, of course, I mean Labour politicians. What this means is that within the next four years, the UK could be at war with the world’s biggest nuclear armed state.
“Because under article five, an attack on any Nato country is an attack on all of them.”
Her speech places defence spending at the centre of the Conservatives’ economic and national security agenda, with the party seeking to distinguish itself from Labour over the balance between welfare, taxation, public spending and military investment.
The proposed £10bn annual increase would represent a significant additional commitment for the government at a time when borrowing costs remain elevated and the public finances face competing demands from health, welfare and other public services.
For Badenoch, however, the argument is increasingly that defence spending should be treated as a core function of the state rather than discretionary expenditure.
Her intervention also reflects a wider shift in European security policy since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with countries across the continent seeking to expand military capacity, resilience and defence-industrial production.
The political challenge for the Conservatives will be to demonstrate how the additional £10bn a year can be financed while also delivering the welfare reductions and other policy changes Badenoch is advocating.
For Burnham, the speech presents another direct challenge to his government’s fiscal strategy, with the Conservatives seeking to frame higher defence spending as both an economic and national security imperative.
Leave a Comment