How the Tories' £10,000,000,000 'Britannia Shield' could protect the UK

Conservative shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge (Picture: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images) The Conservatives have pledged to build a version of Israel’s Iron Dome to protect the UK from attacks by missiles and drones. Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge is expected to set out the plans in a speech at the party’s conference in Birmingham later today. The so-called ‘Britannia Shield’ would involve installing new advanced radar systems and boosting the UK’s number of interceptor missiles. Up to £10 billion would be invested in the plan over a decade, the Tories said, with a ‘minimal deployable capability’ during the party’s first term in office before the system is expanded and strengthened. The Lib Dems accused the Tories of using ‘Truss-style fantasy economics’ with their price tag for the plan. Defence spokesperson James MacCleary said: ‘£10 billion would not even touch the sides for a complete UK-wide “Iron Dome”. ‘They either need to review their dodgy sums or come clean about which parts of the country their Patchwork Dome wouldn’t cover.’ Despite the Conservatives describing the scheme as ‘in essence, a British Iron Dome’ in a press release, leader Kemi Badenoch insisted this morning that is not what they are planning. She told Times Radio: ‘No, not at all. ‘We have the shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge has been speaking to senior military figures. He’s a former defence procurement minister. He knows what he’s talking about, they know what they are talking about. ‘What we are saying is that there are different types of threats and we need to be prepared for them. ‘It is going to stop things like drones and missiles, but it’s not going to be exactly like the iron dome. We haven’t called it an iron dome.’ Israel’s Iron Dome is built to intercept any missiles that enter its airspace (Picture: Saeed Qaq/Anadolu via Getty Images) Rather than protecting the entire country from attack, the ‘Britannia Shield’ would specifically defend critical national infrastructure and military bases. Asked if there was a contradiction between saying the move would protect Britain and the focus on infrastructure, Badenoch said: ‘I think that you’re splitting hairs here. ‘Critical national infrastructure protects the entire country. If we lose even one thing, the entire country is in a real problem, and that’s what we mean.’ Drone warfare has transformed conflict around the world, including in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Picture: Reuters) The Conservatives have previously set out their plan to hit the 3% defence spending target by 2030, through cuts to welfare and reprioritising existing expenditure. Those plans would include reforms to Housing Benefit and the reintroduction of the two-child benefit cap, which was scrapped by Labour last year. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected]. For more stories like this, check our news page.