Britannia shield is not a £10bn gimmick, Kemi Badenoch insists — follow live

UK Politics Live Britannia shield is not a £10bn gimmick, Kemi Badenoch insists — follow live The Conservative leader has stated her commitment at the party conference to raise defence spending by 2030 as the ‘era of peace is over’ Fintan Hogan Share Share this article Email Twitter Facebook Link Save Kemi Badenoch on the third day of the Conservative Party conference Ian Forsyth/Getty Images What you need to know Kemi Badenoch defended plans for a £10bn Iron Dome countermeasure system and promised to raise defence spending by 2030 to tackle rising threats Labour opens up its biggest poll lead since the start of last year , with the Tories in third place behind Reform UK The Conservatives promised to build 50,000 prison places and introduce rules for young people claiming benefits For updates throughout the day listen to Times Radio Watch: Third day of the Conservative Party conference live 9 minutes ago 9:50am October 6 I want Reform voters to come back to us, says Tory leader The Conservatives do not “like the Reform party” but “like their voters”, Kemi Badenoch has said. “We keep having parties who focus on elections and then they get into government and don’t know what they want to do,” the Tory leader told Today . “I am confident that when that election is called, people will see that the Conservative party has the best offer … We are all about common sense.” “I dont like the Reform party. I like their voters, I want their voters to come back to us,” she added. “We had a lot of problems before and we have removed those people — a lot of them have gone to Reform.” 19 minutes ago 9:40am October 6 Suella Braverman’s comments ‘police people’s identiy’ The Reform UK politician Suella Braverman was “policing other people’s identity” when she suggested a second-generation immigrant of a different ethnicity was not English, the Conservative leader has said. “I don’t understand all of a sudden why some people are policing other people’s identiy. If that’s how she feels, that’s fine,” Kemi Badenoch told the ITV show Good Morning Britain . “My children are half-white and half-black. We are a multi-racial country.” “I remember when I was younger, watching England footballers who were black and white. I can’t imagine people pointing at the black footballers and saying, ‘You’re not English,’” Badenoch added. “She is a Reform politician, let Nigel Farage answer for her. She is not one of mine, I told people that Nigel Farage was doing my spring cleaning … I want us to talk about what we have in common, which is being British.” 29 minutes ago 9:30am October 6 ‘Britain needs missile defence systems right now’ Britain needs drone and missile defences “right now”, Kemi Badenoch has insisted as she defended the “Britannia shield” plan. “What I am really worried about is that our government isn’t talking about defence at all,” the Conservative leader told Today . “Missile defence systems are things we need right now … A billion pounds a year over ten years should be able to deliver this.” Challenged on the details by Nick Ferrari on LBC Radio, the Conservative leader said the system would “protect critical national infrastructure” but could not say how many individual units would be purchased or how they would move quickly to respond to an imminent threat. Badenoch said she did not “have a time machine” to change the defense policy of the previous Conservative government. Advertisement 39 minutes ago 9:20am October 6 Kemi Badenoch: I am refreshing the Conservative brand The Conservative Party is a “heritage brand” that “lost its way”, Kemi Badenoch has said. “I want [voters] to know that I acknowledge the mistakes — and I have apologised many times — but we are a new party,” the Tory leader told Times Radio. “I’ve been reading a lot about heritage brands that lost their way. It always happens when the brand stops looking after its core customers and starts doing things that are off-brand,” she said. “That is what I am doing, refreshing the brand. “Everyone in my shadow cabinet is there because they are people of commitment and they believe in our values.” 49 minutes ago 9:10am October 6 People will have to wait for tax plan, says Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has repeatedly declined to be drawn on any further tax cuts a Conservative government would implement. “I’m not naming any specific taxes. People will have to wait,” the Conservative leader told Times Radio. “We have to find the money to pay for [cuts], what we are not doing is just cutting taxes willy-nilly.” “I need to see what the situation is with what Andy Burnham is doing, I’m very worried about our economic position,” she added. “What I am not going to do is lie to your listeners to get easy votes.” However, Badenoch hinted that her flagship conference speech today might include more tax and spending commitments. 54 minutes ago 9:05am October 6 Britannia shield is ‘different’ to Israel’s Iron Dome Kemi Badenoch has continued to defend the “Britannia shield” missile defence system announced by the Conservatives yesterday, with parallels drawn with Israel’s Iron Dome. “I think that gives people a picture of what we are trying to do, but it is different,” the Conservative leader told the Radio 4 Today programme. “They face daily threats from countries around them, the threats we face are different.” “What we are talking about is people getting close enough to actually fire things at us,” she said, using the example of drones being fired from a ship in the English Channel. “It’s not going to be the daily onslaught that Israel has so we don’t need that level.” Badenoch added: “We are not building the Iron Dome, we are doing what other European countries are doing … We are designing something specific for the kind of threat we have here.” Advertisement 59 minutes ago 9:00am October 6 Labour leads Reform in polls Results of a YouGov survey for The Times represents Labour’s largest lead since January last year when the firm restarted polling after the past general election. Andy Burnham’s party conference speech was well-received as he opened the door to rejoining the European Union , pledged to support electoral reform and announced plans to scrap the pensions triple lock to pay for a national care service . The poll puts Labour on 27 per cent support, up three points on last week, with Reform UK down three points on 22 per cent. The Conservatives are in third place on 20 per cent while the Liberal Democrats and the Greens are both on 11 per cent. 1 hour ago 8:55am October 6 ‘Britannia shield to be most significant air defence upgrade for generations’ The Conservatives have pledged to invest £10bn in an anti-missile and drone system to defend Britain if they win the next general election. The so-called Britannia shield would provide an integrated network of radar, command and control systems, as well as interceptor missiles. The shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, is expected to describe the pledge as “the most significant upgrade to UK air defence for generations” when he delivers a speech at the Conservative Party conference today. James Cartlidge prepares for a round of interviews Jacob King/PA The party said the system would be capable of defending critical national infrastructure, military bases and sovereign territories from sophisticated threats. Read in full: How would the Tories’ ‘British Iron Dome’ work? 1 hour ago 8:50am October 6 Labour is not talking about defence, says Badenoch The government is simply “not talking about defence”, Kemi Badenoch has said. In his speech at the Labour conference last week, the prime minister did not make any commitment on the defence investment plan. “We had a defence secretary resign because he said the government is not spending enough money. He is now the chancellor and they are not talking about it,” the Conservative leader told Times Radio. A Tory government would reprioritise spending from clean energy subsidies, the Chagos Islands deal and reinstate the two-child benefit cap, Badenoch said. Advertisement 1 hour ago 8:48am October 6 Tories promise 50,000 prison places to stop early releases The Conservative party has promised to build 50,000 prison places in England and Wales to stop criminals being released early. It would cost £2bn per year to build and run the new prisons, funded by spending cuts including to the foreign aid budget. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport budget would also be cut by £1bn, while spending on Cabinet Office communications would be reduced by £500m under the plans. 1 hour ago 8:45am October 6 Watch: Kemi Badenoch is ‘building a new Conservative Party’ 1 hour ago 8:43am October 6 ‘There are different types of threats and we need to be prepared’ Asked if drawing a parallel with Israel’s Iron Dome while only committing £10bn showed the policy was a “gimmick”, the Conservative leader said: “Not at all.” “There are different types of threats and we need to be prepared for them,” Kemi Badenoch told Times Radio. “You do need to make sure that you have something in place for the sort of threats that we are seeing. It’s not just long-range missiles from Russia any more.” She accused the presenter Kate McCann of “splitting hairs”. “I don’t want to have a semantic argument. I’ve put out something that should protect our country, make us safer,” Badenoch said. “The prime minister had nothing to say on defence in his speech. I am the only person that has set out a plan for how we would get to 3 per cent by 2030.” Advertisement 1 hour ago 8:40am October 6 Badenoch ‘heartbroken’ over death of Jeffrey Archer Kemi Badenoch told Times Radio she was “heartbroken” about the death of the Tory peer and author Jeffrey Archer . “I’m going to miss him so much. He sent me a message every other day,” she said. “He had a very, very colourful life. He lived it to the full, including doing things he shouldn’t have done.” The Conservative leader said Archer had sent her a final message — “Great outfit, great speech” — at 8.03am on Monday. “I’m heartbroken that I’ll never get another message from him.” Badenoch said her favourite Archer book was Kane and Abel . She said: “It’s a proper blockbuster. It’s a story that actually stayed with me, because it reminds you what people born at the start of the 20th century had to deal with.” 1 hour ago 8:38am October 6 Tory leader affirms higher defence spending to deal with ‘near-term threats’ Pressed by the presenter Kate McCann on her commitment to a “critical path” to spending 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence in The Right Way , Kemi Badenoch said: “The book is a philosophical book, it’s not a manifesto.” “A critical path is about ensuring that you have that target in your sites,” the Conservative leader told Times Radio. “What I’ve said is 3 per cent by 2030 — the government hasn’t said that.” “What we have announced today is about the near-term threats, what we would do if something happened in the next few years,” she added. “What you are asking me to do is plot out an entire path when I am not in government.” 1 hour ago 8:37am October 6 ‘Britannia shield is necessary as era of peace is over’ Kemi Badenoch has defended her party’s policy of a “ Britannia shield ”, insisting it was proportionate and affordable to the military threats Britain faces. “You just look at what is happening around the world — the world is changing, the era of peace is over, we spent the peace dividend,” the Conservative leader told Times Radio. “I want us to be ready.” Badenoch pointed to recent examples of security threats, including the incident at RAF Fasirford , the scrambling of Polish jets and the possible sabotage of Leipzig