We are at war now, Badenoch warns aboard HMS Wellington

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has told a defence rally aboard HMS Wellington that Britain is “at war now” through hybrid and unconventional warfare, and that about £10 billion for defence should come from the welfare bill, according to the Conservative Party.

Speaking on Tuesday, she said Labour had delayed the Defence Investment Plan and was not funding defence to 3 per cent of GDP, and set out Conservative plans for the Britannia Shield missile and drone defence system, 20,000 more troops and upgraded frigates. The party issued the text of the speech, checked against delivery.

Badenoch said: “Good morning, everyone. So why have I brought you all out here on this cold Tuesday morning onto HMS Wellington? Well I think this ship is a fantastic reminder of when Britain took defence seriously. HMS Wellington was built in 1934, when Britain understood the threats that the world was facing. Our amazing Royal Navy, did so many wonderful things. Our Navy defended prosperity, freedom of navigation, free trade. Our Royal Navy defeated fascism, and it was our Royal Navy that helped to end the slave trade, something a lot of people have been talking about these days.

“Labour have been talking about apologising because that’s what they do. But I wanted to remember our history in a proud way. I am proud of our history. When you listen to the government, it doesn’t sound like they’re proud of our history. It sounds like they’re embarrassed about our history, ashamed of it, and they are complacent. So many people are complacent because they don’t realise that we are under threat. We are under threat.

“Many people look at the war in Ukraine. They see bombs and drones dropping and think that’s something that’s happening very far away. Or they look at the war in Iran and think that’s happening very far away. It’s got nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with us. Drone warfare is changing the nature of war. We are under threat in a way that we never used to be. It’s not just missiles that can attack us. It’s not nuclear missiles alone. Now people can get drones and come very close to our islands and attack us. That is why I was so pleased when James came up with the idea of the Britannia Shield. The Britannia Shield is our missile and drone defence system. It helps protect us against the threats that we face. But you know what was sad? When we were announcing the Britannia Shield, when we were announcing our missile and drone defence system, people spent their time arguing about whether or not it was like the Iron Dome. That’s irrelevant. What is important is that we have a defence system ready for our country. We need to start waking up to those threats and stop being afraid and stop being complacent.

“Warfare is changing in so many different ways. We are at war now. Hybrid warfare, unconventional warfare. Last year, Jaguar Land Rover had its operations and its supply chains completely crippled by a cyber attack linked to Russia. This summer, we had a British power plant shut down by a cybersecurity hack linked to Iran. This week, we have heard about North Korean hackers stealing billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency to avoid sanctions and fund their army. That’s what they’re doing with that money. Just yesterday, we heard about European supermarkets being shut down because their freezers and refrigeration systems had been hacked. That’s our food supplies that we’re talking about. And this morning, it was reported that Russian warships were intercepted in the English Channel. We know that they are spying on us. They’re looking at NATO military training exercises. Unconventional warfare is here now. We need to start getting ready. We need to get serious.

“What’s Labour doing? Nothing. They’re not doing anything. They’ve got their heads in the sand like ostriches. They don’t want to know what’s going on. Anything that looks like a plan gets kicked into the long grass. Well, are we going to do that? No. Absolutely not. We’re not going to do that. But look at what they’ve been doing. The Defence Investment Plan has only just been funded. It is delayed. It has taken ages. Something that should have been ready shortly after they came into government in 2024. Just last week, the Chancellor finally found the money for the Defence Investment Plan. And this is a man, let’s not forget, who resigned, not just because of the Defence Investment Plan, but because Labour was not funding defence to 3% of GDP. He resigned over that. And yet they are still not funding defence to 3% of GDP. They have a plan, to make a plan, to get the plan. This is not serious. We need to fund our defence now.

“I’ve got his letter in my pocket. I’m going to remind everyone of what John Healey said when he resigned. He said: “I am being forced to make decisions that would reduce the readiness of our forces and increase the risk to personnel on operations and could make this country less safe”. This is not a trivial matter. We are talking about the safety of our troops, aren’t we? We’re talking about the safety of our country. We need a government that takes these things seriously. Defence of the realm is the first duty of government. Keeping our country safe. Where is the money coming from? It has to come from the welfare bill. Welfare is bloated. We are spending far too much paying people who can work not to work to stay at home. Welfare should be a safety net for those who are truly vulnerable, not a lifestyle. And yet Labour have funded welfare to 2031. The welfare increase under this Labour government is going to be about £60 billion just under this Labour government. That’s the increase on welfare. What we’re asking for to fund defence is about £10 billion. It’s completely mad that they won’t do this.

“Look at the Home Secretary yesterday weakening the tough measures that we need to secure our borders and to bring down immigration. She’s already relented because Andy Burnham always gives in to his backbenchers. All he cares about is uniting the left and getting ready for an election. But we care about this country. We care. We care about keeping our country safe. And where is the Prime Minister today? Where is our prime minister? He’s in Antigua. I bet he’s enjoying much better weather than we are right now. What should he be talking about with Commonwealth countries? He should be talking about national resilience, how to keep us safe, how the Commonwealth can be stronger. What’s he talking about? Apologising for slavery. Something that happened two centuries ago. He’s got a plan and a consultation on how best to apologise. He’s sitting there talking about reparations while the Russian shadow fleet is operating in our waters. We need to do better than that. What he should be talking about there is resilience because that’s what we need now.

“We need fiscal resilience. That means that government needs to start living within its means. We need to stop borrowing so much that we’re now borrowing to pay the interest on our debt. We need to cut the deficit. We need to stop wasteful spending. We need to cut welfare. That’s what fiscal resilience by government looks like. But we also need household resilience. Households out there are struggling. They are struggling with the cost of living. They are struggling with their family finances. They need a break. And yet most people have not had a real pay rise in years. Living standards have stalled. We haven’t had an increase in living standards in this country on average since 2008. Households need better resilience. They need a government to stop taxing them and stop making everything so expensive. We need other types of resilience as well. We need economic resilience. We need businesses to be able to create jobs, to pay people well, to invest. Instead, they are being taxed so much that even Poundland is closing down. I mean, it doesn’t get cheaper than Poundland. And even they are saying that they can’t make the numbers work. It is because of government policy. We need economic resilience. We need household resilience. We need fiscal resilience. But most of all, we need national resilience. That means looking after national security. And looking after national security means funding our defence.

“So, what is the alternative? The only credible alternative to this Labour government is the Conservatives. We are the only alternative. Ladies and gentlemen, we are the only party that actually has a plan to get to 3% of GDP and fund our defence. We are the ones who have got a plan to increase our army by 20,000: 14,000 reservists, 6,000 regulars. We are the ones with a plan to upgrade our frigates. We are the ones with the Britannia Shield. We’re the ones who are going to protect this country, and we are going to do it by cutting welfare and stopping wasteful spending. We have set out our savings because we need common sense. £70 billion of savings is what we have found, compared to Labour’s £70 billion of tax increases. That is the difference between the two parties: £70 billion of extra taxes in two years from Labour, £70 billion of savings with us.

“We know it’s not going to be easy, and I’m not here to pretend that we didn’t make mistakes too. We did make mistakes. But this is a new party under new management. We are a new party. We’re not going to run away from difficult decisions. We know it won’t be easy, but we can do it. The plan is simple: fund our defence, cut wasteful spending, cut welfare, cut taxes, grow our economy and get Britain working again. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.”

John Healey, now Chancellor, set a target date of 2030 for defence spending to reach 3 per cent of GDP in last week’s Budget, with details of how Britain will meet its NATO commitment of 3.5 per cent by 2035 due at next year’s spending review. Core NATO defence spending is due to reach 2.7 per cent of GDP from 2027-28, and the Ministry of Defence budget is set at almost £298 billion across four years. Downing Street said in September that the Prime Minister backs both military funding and a lower benefits bill, but not through “crude cuts”.

Healey resigned as Defence Secretary in June, writing in his letter that the Defence Investment Plan settlement rose to 2.68 per cent of GDP in 2030 and that a date for 3 per cent in 2030 was what Britain must set. James Cartlidge, the shadow Defence Secretary, announced Britannia Shield in October, costing it at £10 billion over ten years as part of the party’s pledge to reach 3 per cent by 2030.