Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has promised to bring back the two-child benefit cap, using the savings to fund what she described as 'the biggest peacetime programme of rearmament in our country's history'. Speaking at a defence conference in London, Badenoch criticised the Labour government for Britain's 'lack of readiness' for war, exposed by recent world events.
Under the plans, the Tories would recruit 6,000 full-time soldiers and 14,000 reservists, claiming they could raise £20 billion by reinstating the cap and reallocating money earmarked for net zero projects. Badenoch said the UK must 'reassert' itself as a global power, adding: 'If our military is strengthened, our hand is strengthened.'
Badenoch also addressed tensions in the UK-US relationship, calling Donald Trump's public criticism of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer 'disconcerting'. She warned that adversaries such as Iran, China and Russia were watching, and that the weakening of western bonds should not be allowed.
Labour has accused Badenoch of prematurely stating that the UK should have joined Trump's war with Iran. The government has committed to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence by 2027, rising to 3% in the next parliament, but faces pressure to publish a detailed plan. Labour ministers argue they inherited years of underinvestment from the previous Conservative government, which saw defence spending fall by 22% between 2010 and 2017 before returning to 2010 levels.
