“I don’t think it is enough” Badenoch calls for increase in defence spending during Fareham drone company visit

Britain must urgently boost defence spending, strengthen the Royal Navy and increase troop numbers during a visit to Fareham, according to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said

The Leader of the Opposition urgently called for action during a visit to Windracers, a dual-use heavy-lift drone manufacturing and engineering company based in Segensworth.

The visit was intended to highlight the UK’s position as a global leader in autonomous aircraft technology and advanced manufacturing and she was told more about the work carried out by the company.

During her visit, we asked Mrs Badenoch about her party’s defence spending plans and the future of the Royal Navy whose home is a few miles away in Portsmouth.

Spending

Asked about the government’s Defence Investment Plan (DIP), under which the Treasury committed £15 billion despite the Ministry of Defence originally requesting £28 billion, Mrs Badenoch said: “I don’t think it is enough.”

She said the figures underpinning the plan “came out before what we’ve seen happen in the middle east”.

“The threat level has changed and we need to be funding our defence for the future, not for five years ago.

“I know it is difficult, we have been living in a era of peace, but it is now time for us to get ready and re-arm. The intelligence assessment is that NATO could be at war with Russia by 2030.”

She said the Conservatives were pursuing higher defence spending “because we know on the Labour side it’s quite difficult for them to vote for welfare cuts”, adding that she had made that offer to Andy Burnham, who she expects to become the next Labour prime minister.

To pay for increased defence spending, Mrs Badenoch said she would reinstate the two-child benefit cap, which she said would raise £3.5 billion. She said the money would be used for “increasing the number of troops”, including 6,000 regular soldiers and 14,000 reservists.

She also said she would redirect money allocated to the “failed Chagos deal”, under which the UK proposed transferring sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius.

Ms Badenoch, who has strongly opposed the agreement, said around £400 million has been earmarked for the deal this financial year.

She said: “Andy Burnham wants to revive that deal, no, he should not, she should put it into upgrading our frigates.”

She also promoted her proposed sovereign defence fund, which she said “could get between £11bn to £50bn” by redirecting funding from green and climate initiatives, which she believes are “not delivering Net zero and not having an impact on climate”.

“Let’s put it into research and development, innovation for companies like Windracers who are helping us get ready for the future.”

Conservative’s record on defence

Previous Conservative governments faced criticism over defence, including cuts to the size of the Army, procurement delays and cost overruns, and the poor condition of military housing.

Asked what mistakes her party had made, Ms Badenoch said: “When you look at defence spending going down every year from 1989 to 2022 when I came into cabinet there was clearly an assumption we were living in a long term era of peace.

“Russia was in the G8, it was the golden age with our relationship with China, all of that is gone now.

“We need to start facing up to what the world is today.”

The Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is facing a capability gap, with new combat and autonomous ships not expected to enter service until the 2030s, while older vessels continue to retire. This has created a mismatch between the UK’s naval commitments and the number of combat-ready ships available.

Ms Badenoch said: “We cannot be making plans for beyond the 2030s when we know that there is something likely to happen before 2030.”

She said Britain must continue manufacturing both traditional and emerging military equipment because “having billion pound vessels that are taken out by £20,000 drones does not make economic sense”.

She also highlighted the need to prepare for hybrid warfare, which combines conventional military force with cyber attacks, disinformation, economic pressure and proxy operations.

Asked about Project Royal Oak, the £26 billion investment programme for the naval bases at Portsmouth, Devonport and Faslane, she said: “I don’t know the specifics of what it’s being required and what it’s being used for but if money is going into upgrading bases then I wholeheartedly welcome that, let’s put in as much as we possibly can.”

Paul Holmes, MP for Hamble Valley, who was also at the visit said that investment was vital for local businesses which also support the defence sector.

He said: “A lot of the companies here are building those autonomous ships”, including the Kraken Technology Group in Whiteley.

“That money is going into make sure that, particularly the Portsmouth naval base, that they can accommodate those types so it’s good money to build that infrastructure – we all want it in the region because it means that we can speed up that investment and get those ship active as soon as possible.”

Recruitment

The armed forces have struggled to recruit enough new personnel while many experienced service members continue to leave. Factors include pay, poor housing, workload, competition from civilian employers, lengthy recruitment processes and uncertainty over career progression.

Ms Badenoch said that, alongside reinstating the two-child benefit cap to increase troop numbers, she would also “look at accommodation”, which she said had been cut as part of the “efficiency savings the government has made, I think that’s completely wrong”.

She also said she would make it easier to serve as a reservist by encouraging employers to provide greater support.

Some reservists face a financial penalty because military pay or time away from civilian work can reduce their overall earnings despite compensation schemes.

Ms Badenoch said reservists “shouldn’t face a financial penalty”.