Conservatives announce £10 billion defence boost to hit 3 per cent target

• Party pledges biggest uplift in defence spending in a generation, to face rising global threats
• Increase to be funded by further cuts to welfare bill and reprioritising funding from other areas
• While Burnham's Government continues to put our troops at risk, Conservatives are focussed on keeping our country safe

The Conservatives have today [Thursday 3^rd September] announced plans for a major increase in defence spending to hit the 3 per cent target by 2029/30.

The uplift, worth £10 billion per year, will be funded by further cuts to the spiralling welfare bill, building on the party's existing pledges to cut welfare by £23 billion, and by reprioritising funding from other areas. This represents the largest real-terms increase in defence spending in a generation.

Kemi Badenoch will speak about the plans at a press conference in Central London today [Thursday].

This week, having dodged scrutiny all summer, Andy Burnham faced clear and straightforward questions from Badenoch in Parliament about the gaping hole in the defence budget and the urgent need to bring welfare spending under control. The Prime Minister was unable to answer, failing even to commit to the 3 per cent target by 2030.

The Conservatives, in contrast, are serious about funding our defence and keeping the public safe. Our military cannot operate on warm words our troops need resources. That is why we are setting out fully costed plans to cut the welfare bill to fund a major increase in defence spending.

We will:

• Save at least £4 billion through reforms to Housing Benefit
• Save £3.1 billion by reimposing the two-child benefit cap
• Stop the £1 billion annual increase in the British Business Bank's Industrial Strategy Capital
• Save £1 billion by ending VAT exemptions for Motability vehicles
• Allocate £2.75 billion from the National Wealth Fund to the National Defence and Resilience Bank as part of the Party's Sovereign Defence Fund
• Move £2 billion of the civil Research and Development Budget into defence
• Scrap Labour's Chagos Surrender deal, raising £0.2 billion per year

Taken together, all these measures will fund an annual £10bn increase in the defence budget by the end of this Parliament, while also reducing the deficit, providing the resources needed to meet the 3 per cent target by 2030 which former Defence Secretary, John Healey, said in his resignation letter was necessary to keep the country safe. 

Andy Burnham has been Prime Minister for over a month, and still can't say how he plans to fill the gaps in his own party's Defence Investment Plan (DIP), let alone hit 3 per cent or the NATO target of 3.5 per cent by 2035. His Chancellor, Healey, resigned as Starmer's Defence Secretary in protest at the inadequacy of the DIP, yet now sits alongside Burnham even as he fails to fund defence.

Healey said when he quit that failing to fund the DIP could put British troops at risk and that failing do so reduces the readiness of our forces, pointing to Starmer himself raising the prospect of an attack on NATO by Russia as soon as 2030. He was clear that he agreed with Kemi that Britain needs to spend 3 per cent of GDP on Defence by 2030, yet Burnham will not say if he will honour that commitment. When he resigned, Healey said, I am certain that a headmark date for 3 per cent of GDP on defence in 2030 is what Britain must set, but he now warns this target is not easy to meet, and he is reportedly shelving it.

This is despite the fact that in recent days, Russia has threatened catastrophic' consequences for the UK over our support for Ukraine. Meanwhile the CIA Director has reportedly visited Moscow to warn Russia not to attack NATO. The situation in Iran remains unstable and unpredictable, China continues to threaten our security, and Argentina is ramping up its language about the Falklands. The threats our country faces are clear.

Yet Labour are busy looking for more ways to raise taxes to pay for more benefits, because Burnham lacks the backbone to face down his left-wing back benchers. After campaigning to lift the two-child cap and spend more on benefits, Reform now say they want to cut welfare, but their policies disintegrate on their first contact with scrutiny.

The Conservatives, however, are focussed on keeping our country safe. That means giving our armed forces the resources they need, by getting the welfare bill under control and reprioritising cash from other areas. We are the only party with a serious plan to cut welfare and fund defence.

Kemi Badenoch MP, Leader of the Conservative Party, said:

The first duty of every Government is defence and the Conservatives will always put our defence first. 

That's why we are setting out our plans to reach 3% on defence spending by the end of this Parliament through further cuts to welfare and restoring the two-child benefit cap. 

John Healey resigned from Keir Starmer's government saying Labour were not keeping our country safe. Now he is the Chancellor he should adopt our plans and make sure our armed forces have the funding they need.

James Cartlidge MP, Shadow Defence Secretary, said:

Andy Burnham came to office with no plan for how to fund our defence and no idea what to do about the out-of-control welfare bill.

The longer he dithers and delays, the greater the risk to our security and to the British public, who will keep paying more and more in benefits while the armed forces who keep us safe have to make do with less and less.

The Conservatives are clear: we must cut the welfare bill, reprioritise funding from other areas and invest an extra £10 billion a year in our armed forces so we can meet our 3 per cent target, honouring our NATO commitments and keeping Britain safe.

Andrew Griffith MP, Shadow Chancellor, said:

Our country faces a stark choice: continue to pour taxpayers' money into an unreformed welfare black hole and leave the defence of our nation underfunded, or cut the benefits bill and use the money to back our armed forces.

The Conservatives have already set out plans to cut the ballooning welfare bill by £23 billion, but now we are going further. Our changes will make the welfare system fairer at the same time as ensuring our country is fit to face growing global threats.

Labour want to spend more taxpayers' money on welfare, not less. Reform's numbers simply don't add up. We are the only party with a coherent and costed plan to cut welfare, fund defence with £10 billion extra and get Britain working again.

Helen Whately MP, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said:

It's time for Labour to wake up and get serious. Defending our country has to come before spending ever more on welfare. A strong Britain depends on people working and contributing - not staying home on benefits.

"In the dangerous times we live in, we must face up to the question of ow much the state can afford to spend on welfare. The first responsibility of Government is national security.

"More than two years in, Labour still have no plan to fund defence and their backbenchers will not vote to bring down the welfare bill. Only the Conservative Party will grip welfare, get Britain working again and invest in defence.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• Conservatives would raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by the end of this Parliament and are pushing Labour to make that same commitment, rather than kick the can down the road into the next decade. Kemi Badenoch made clear that the UK must show global leadership, calling on the Labour Government to set out funded plans to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by the end of this Parliament.
• The plans set out today will raise more than £14 billion. £10.1 billion will go to defence, with the remainer used to pay down the deficit
• The Defence Investment Plan committed the Government to spending 2.7 per cent of UK GDP by 2029/30 on defence (The Defence Investment Plan Funding Explainer, MoD, 30 June 2026, link). UK nominal GDP will be £3.5tn in 2029/30 (Quarterly National Accounts, 30 Juny 2026, HMT, link), meaning total spending of 2.7 per cent of GDP will be equivalent to £95bn. 3% will be £105bn, meaning an uplift of £10bn against the Government's current plans is necessary to meet the 3 per cent target in that year. 
• We will deliver at least £4bn in savings to Housing Benefit by reducing LHA rates and cutting social sector rents. Further details will be set out at Conservative Party Conference next month.
• The Government's decision to lift the Two Child Benefit Cap will cost £3.1bn in 2029/30 (Row 6, Table 4.1, Budget 2025 document, HMT, link)
• VAT exemptions for Motability leases and resale cost the taxpayer £1.5bn in 2025/26 (Tax relief statistics, 22 January 2026, link). Changes at Budget 2025 reduced the annual cost by £300m (Row 14, Table 4.1, Budget 2025 document, HMT, link), leaving £1.2bn in relief remaining. We will remove relief for VAT on weekly lease costs and vehicle resale, while continuing to exempt vehicles designed or substantially and permanently adapted for wheelchair or stretcher users, saving £1bn per year.
• Our plans to move £2bn in R&D spending, as well as £11bn from the National Wealth Fund over 4 years, into defence are part of our plans announced last year to create a Sovereign Defence Fund.  We want to build a strong British defence industry as well as strong forces.
• In line with this strategy we will shift resources from the British Business Bank to defence. On Labour plans the British Business Bank will receive an extra £1bn each year of the parliament for investment in the Government's favoured Industrial Strategy sectors, which include Creative Industries, Professional Services and Clean Energy (p51, The UK's Modern Industrial Strategy, DBT, November 2025, link). We will instead invest this money in Britain's industrial and defence capacity directly, stimulating jobs and economic activity, rather than spreading it across a disparate range of politically favoured sectors. 
• These changes are compatible with our Golden Economic Rule, in which at least half of every non-reallocated pound saved must be used to cut the deficit.
• We have already announced our Sovereign Defence Fund to accelerate Britain's war readiness. Our Sovereign Defence Fund would mobilise billions in public and private funding to overhaul the defence industrial base, including taking stakes in UK defence start-ups, investing in dual-use companies, and building resilient supply chains. The plan is a fully funded plan, based on repurposing existing Government expenditure to invest in this national priority.