Kemi Badenoch warns over unfunded tax cuts as she calls for defence boost
The Conservative leader urged new Chancellor John Healey to “find the funding” for defence spending to reach 3% of GDP by the end of this Parliament.
Unfunded “spending giveaways” will never be the answer to “Britain’s problems”, Kemi Badenoch has warned.
Listen to this article
The Conservative leader said the world is becoming more dangerous as she called for the UK to embark on its “biggest peacetime programme of rearmament”.
In a speech at Hampshire’s Farnborough International Airshow, Mrs Badenoch urged Chancellor John Healey to “find the funding” for defence spending to reach 3% of GDP by the end of this Parliament.
She said: “I have offered to work with (Prime Minister) Andy Burnham in the national interest to cut the benefits bill.
“Unfunded spending giveaways or tax cuts without a plan to pay for them will never be the answer to Britain’s problems.”
Read more: Who's who in Andy Burnham's cabinet? Familiar faces join the new PM's mission to revitalise Britain
In the last few hours alone Andy Burnham’s Government has talked about:
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) July 21, 2026
Cutting energy bills
Lifting the personal tax allowance
Nationalising Thames Water
The biggest council house programme since the War
Giving mayors more funding
Creating a new National Care Service
More…
Mrs Badenoch claimed Britain has allowed its defence capabilities to “atrophy”, and the country has “drifted into a role of commentator on world events”.
She went on: “We can now be in no doubt that our enemies are not deterred by our words.
“They will only be deterred by ships in the water, jets in the air, munitions in stock, state-of-the-art technologies, and allies who know that Britain will answer their call.”
Mrs Badenoch said a Conservative government under her leadership would “keep this country safe”, and “that is the standard that I am going to hold this new Prime Minister to”.
Mr Healey was appointed to his new role on Monday, just over a month after he quit as defence secretary following a spending row with the Treasury, the department he now runs.
When he resigned as defence secretary, Mr Healey hit out at the Treasury for not stumping up the £28 billion military chiefs believed was needed for the defence investment plan (Dip).
Defence minister Luke Pollard also gave a speech at Farnborough Airshow on Tuesday, in which he stated that the Dip was “backed by a £298 billion down payment over the next four years”.
He went on: “It will transform our armed forces for the future of war fighting, and it provides a clear long-term demand signal for industry and, importantly, for investors as well.”
Mr Pollard added that the “eastern flank” is “the front line of our security here in the United Kingdom”.