The Conservatives would reinstate the two-child benefit cap and use the savings to help finance a broad increase in defence spending if they return to power, Kemi Badenoch has said.
Speaking at a defence conference in London, the Conservative leader said the party would pursue what she described as “the biggest peacetime programme of rearmament in our country’s history”.
Badenoch used the speech to criticise the government over what she called Britain’s “lack of readiness” for war. She said recent events around the world had exposed weaknesses in the country’s preparedness.
The remarks place defence at the centre of the Conservatives’ pitch and suggest the party would link military investment with spending cuts elsewhere. The two-child benefit cap, which limits support for families with more than two children, would be restored under the plan.
Badenoch framed the proposal as part of a wider effort to strengthen the armed forces and improve national security. Her comments come as defence spending and military capability remain pressing political issues, with parties under pressure to explain how they would respond to a more unstable international environment.
The conference speech was presented as a statement of intent from the Tory leader, who argued that Britain needs to be better prepared for conflict. By tying the cost of rearmament to savings from social security, the Conservatives are signalling a sharp fiscal and political choice over how such spending should be paid for.
Her intervention also reflects a broader debate within British politics about the balance between welfare commitments and defence priorities. Badenoch’s language suggested a significant shift in emphasis, with security and military capacity positioned as central to the party’s agenda.
The Conservatives have not said in the source material how much the proposed defence expansion would cost or how the wider programme would be structured. But Badenoch’s message was clear: if elected, her party would make rearmament a priority and seek to fund it in part by reversing the current benefit policy.
