Katie Williams
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has insisted the "Britannia Shield" air defence system proposed by her party is "different" from Israel's Iron Dome, and would protect the UK against "the kind of threat that we face here".

The proposed system - a network of radars, command and control systems and interceptor missiles - would protect "critical national infrastructure" against a "new type of warfare", Badenoch told the BBC during her media round this morning.

Her party would earmark £1bn every year for 10 years to pay for the system, she said. Pushed on where the money would come from, Badenoch pointed to proposed savings from cutting the welfare budget and repurposing net zero funding.

There has been a flurry of policy announcements from the Conservatives in recent days as Badenoch aims to put her party back in the spotlight after a historic 2024 election defeat.

Asked about recent polling, Badenoch told the BBC it would take time to convince the public her party had changed, but acknowledged she was polling "very well" personally.

She is due to deliver her keynote speech at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham tomorrow - the final day of the event.

• We are now bringing our live coverage to a close but you can read more about the proposed air defence system in our story

The Tories are proposing a "Britannia Shield" to bolster the UK's defensive capabilities, but what air defence systems does it currently have?

All three services of the armed forces - the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy and the British Army - have air and missile defence systems.

RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire, external, for example, provides a ballistic missile early warning service to the UK and US governments. It can track objects including satellites and debris 3,000 miles (4,828 km) into space.

The British Army’s Sky Sabre air defence system is capable of engaging fighter aircraft, attack helicopters, and other objects. It can also intercept 24 missiles simultaneously.

The Royal Navy is the only service with ballistic missile defence capability. In 2024, its Sea Viper missile system intercepted a Houthi missile which was targeting commercial shipping.

Image source, Kyle Heller / MOD

Defence spending focus is politically risky for Toriespublished at 11:07 BST

11:07 BST

Alex Forsyth
Political correspondent, in Birmingham

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

The Conservatives are keen to talk about defence spending and national security, which is the key focus at conference today.

It’s part of the party’s attempt to put pressure on the government, which is currently wrestling with how to fund its promise to meet Nato defence spending targets.

The risk for the Tories is that it allows political opponents to point a critical finger at the Conservatives’ record on defence spending when they were in government.

Kemi Badenoch is keen to stress her party is under new leadership with new priorities, but even she acknowledged during a round of interviews this morning that there’s still much work to do to rebuild public trust in the Tory brand.

Image source, Reuters

Badenoch has repeatedly sought to differentiate her party's approach to defence spending from that of the government.

Her party has committed to spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030, while the government is yet to set a deadline for reaching this target. The Conservatives have also accused Prime Minister Andy Burnham of being unwilling to cut welfare to "fund the defence of our country".

In September, the PM said the government's commitment to defence was "absolute" and that he'd set a target date to reach the 3% figure in the spring. He also said national security "can't come at the expense of social security".

Now-Chancellor John Healey previously resigned as defence secretary from Keir Starmer's cabinet after expressing frustration that the government hadn't committed to spending 3% by 2030.

Burnham has said he appointed Healey because of his strong commitment to defence, but a concrete commitment on the 3% figure hasn't yet been announced.

In his conference speech last month, Healey didn't set out a pathway for greater defence spending - and the PM also avoided discussing how increased defence spending would be funded.

Is the government only spending £70m a year on missile defence?published at 10:35 BST

10:35 BST

By Tom Edgington

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said “the government’s plan for air and missile defence is about £70m a year”.

It’s not immediately clear where that figure comes from.

The Conservatives’ press release, announcing its “Britannia Shield” plan for missile defence, says: “Labour's 10-year Defence Investment Plan allocated a total of just £790m of new funding for missile defence”.

But Labour’s plan says that £790m is to be spent over four years. That would be the equivalent of £197.5m a year - not the £70m claimed by Badenoch.

The same £790m figure over four years also appears in a separate government press release from 30 June.

Questions have been raised about the UK’s missile defence capability.

Prof Peter Roberts from the Royal United Services Institute told the Commons Defence Select Committee in 2025 that the UK “has next to nothing” compared with the capabilities of some European countries.

BBC Verify has contacted the Conservative Party to ask for the source of Badenoch’s £70m claim.

Tories are yet to recover from their historic election defeatpublished at 10:13 BST

10:13 BST

Brian Wheeler
Political reporter

Image source, PA Media

The Tory leader is trying to ensure her party stands out in a crowded political field.

The Conservatives are trailing Labour and Reform UK in the opinion polls and have yet to recover from their historic defeat at the 2024 general election.

Badenoch, whose personal poll ratings are higher than that of her party, has characterised Reform leader Nigel Farage as a "grumpy grandpa" and she told Laura Kuenssberg that Labour leader Andy Burnham is "the cheesy uncle who does all the dad jokes". She described herself as a "no-nonsense mum".

Asked on Sunday if her plan for benefit cuts and a massive increase in prison places was a return to the "nasty party" of the past, she said: "It's the common sense party. That's what we're doing.

"And, quite frankly, if we were doing so well the old way, then why did we have such a terrible issue in 2024?"

• You can read more from our political reporter here

Are the Conservatives committing enough money to their ‘Britannia Shield’ system?published at 09:58 BST

09:58 BST

By Anthony Reuben

Talking about the Conservative plan for a new UK air and missile defence system, party leader Kemi Badenoch denied calling it an “iron dome”, telling Anna Foster on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme “you’ll have to speak to the newspapers about that”.

The Conservatives’ press release on the plan does mention this though, saying the “Britannia Shield” will“protect Britain from attack – in essence, a British 'Iron Dome'”.

Badenoch said she didn’t want the same capability as Israel’s Iron Dome system but wanted “the same kind of thing” specific for the threats the UK faces.

But some defence experts have questioned whether the £10bn the Conservatives are proposing to spend over 10 years would be enough.

Speaking to the Commons Defence, externalSelect Committee in July, Gen Sir Richard Barrens said “the cost of an iron dome at entry level is probably £80bn over 10 years - entry level”.

Badenoch said he was talking about “something closer to the Israeli system, I have said that this is something quite different”.

While discussing the "Britannia Shield" - the air defence system the Conservatives are proposing for the UK - Badenoch told the Radio 4's Today programme that it would be "the same type of thing" as Israel's Iron Dome.

The Iron Dome is the best known of Israel's missile shields. It's designed to intercept short-range rockets, shells and mortars, at ranges of between 4km (2.4 miles) and 70km (43.5 miles) from the missile launcher.

The system detects and tracks incoming rockets with radar and calculates which ones are likely to reach populated areas. It then fires missiles at these rockets, leaving the others to fall on open ground.

The IDF has previously claimed that Iron Dome destroys 90% of the rockets it targets. Its "Tamir" missiles are thought to cost about $50,000 each.

Image source, Getty Images

Kemi Badenoch says her party will invest £10bn in a new missile and drone defence system, dubbed the "Britannia Shield", if they win the next general election.

It comprise three components - new advanced radar systems, upgraded command and control systems, as well as interceptor missiles as well as counter-drone capabilities.

Its aim will be to protect "critical national infrastructure" against a new type of warfare.

The Conservative leader says it would be funded through welfare cuts and would see £1bn paid towards the defence system annually for 10 years.

The party likened the proposed system to Israel's Iron Dome - we'll have more on what that is in our next post - but Badenoch has said Britannia Shield's level of capability will be different.

In the last hour, Kemi Badenoch appeared on the Today programme to discuss the Conservatives' latest policy announcement ahead of her party conference speech tomorrow. Here's what we heard:

• She said the "Britannia Shield" defence system proposed by the Conservatives will aim to protect "critical national infrastructure" against a new type of warfare
• Challenged on whether the £10bn allotted to the system is enough to cover the cost, Badenoch insisted the sum would be sufficient
• The Conservative leader said she had found the savings to pay for the so-called "Britannia Shield" through proposed measures like cutting the welfare bill
• Asked about polling, Badenoch said it would take time to prove her party was different to the one the electorate voted against two years ago
• On the prospect of forming a deal or coalition, she said the "seeds" of her party's problems were sewn when the 2010 coalition was formed
• She added that while she wants Reform UK voters back, some of the party's politicians are "just not our kind of people"

Badenoch wraps up her interview by reflecting on Jeffrey Archer's legacy.

"We were very fond of him, I think we wished he was better behaved, I think his family probably felt the impact of that more than we did," she says.

Despite finding himself in "tricky situations", she says he was given further chances - showing that he was well-liked.

She adds that she could see why so many were fond of him, and says "colourful" would be the best way to describe him.

"I thought he was a good person to me, I had a very good experience of knowing him and I will miss him very much."

Asked if she is open to deals or coalitions with other parties on the right, Badenoch says that "the seeds of our problems were sewn in" when the party joined with the Liberal Democrats in 2010.

"We had to make concessions," she says, adding that she wants people to know that "if they vote Conservative, they get Conservative".

While she says she likes Reform UK's voters and wants them back, some of the party's politicians are "just not our kind of people".

"We had a lot of problems before," she says. "Many of them have gone to Reform, I don't want them back."

Badenoch is asked about recent figures from polling expert John Curtice which show the Conservative party is polling below its 2024 general election result. Will the Conservatives be ready?

Badenoch says she is polling "very well" personally, adding: "People do look at who they want to be leader".

"We need to remember that government is not just about elections", she adds, calling this the "beginning not the end".

She says parties keep focusing on the election win and then have "no idea" what they're going to do when they get into office.

Badenoch says she's not going to make the "mistakes" of her predecessors, adding: "I'm laying out my plans."

Asked about winning over right-leaning voters, she says she doesn't think this is about "uniting the right". Rather, it is about "uniting the country", she says, adding that it is becoming "more and more divided".

When asked if promises she has made, including on defence and taxes, are "fiscally credible", Badenoch says the Conservatives are not "messing around" and are "very concerned" about the state of defence and the economy.

The Conservative leader insists she has found the savings to pay for 'Britannia Shield', including through measures such as cutting the welfare bill and repurposing "old research funds" into a sovereign defence fund.

On polling, Badenoch says that she needs to show that her party is different to the party people said no to two years ago, which "takes time".

Asked to clarify how the defence system would work and why it's being compared to Israel's Iron Dome, Badenoch says it's the "same type of thing", a defence system with "mobile" interceptors.

BBC presenter Anna Foster notes that likening the proposed system to the Iron Dome, as the Tories did in the announcement of the policy, is "not accurate".

She notes a similar system would defend the UK from threats "70km or so away, which would be France and Ireland, essentially".

Badenoch says the UK doesn't face the same daily level of threat Israel faces, so the level of capability would be different.

Image source, PA Media

She adds that they don't want to copy Israel's Iron Dome but do "what other European countries are doing", which is design "something specific for the kind of threat that we face here". Badenoch emphasises that they're naming it the 'Britannia Shield', not the Iron Dome.

Pushed that the allotted £10bn is insufficient to cover the costs, Badenoch says that it would.

Badenoch adds that she is "really worried" that the government "is not talking about defence at all" and "don't have a fully funded" plan.

"We're very worried and we have found 3% of GDP to spend on defence by 2030," she says, adding that "this is more than anyone else is doing".

Kemi Badenoch tells Radio 4's Today programme the defence system proposed by the Conservatives is "different from Israel's Iron Dome".

She says Israel faces "daily threats", while those faced by the UK "are different". But at the moment, the UK does not have "this sort of capability", she says.

The Conservative leader says recent attacks on Cyprus, as well as Iranian strikes on Gulf countries, show there is a "new type of warfare".

She says we could see threats like people "coming very close to the English Channel" and sending drones and missiles to attack "critical national infrastructure".

Badenoch adds that the system would aim to protect critical infrastructure across the UK, as well as assets abroad.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is now speaking on Radio 4's Today programme.

It follows her appearance on BBC Breakfast a short while ago, where she spoke about topics including her party's latest defence announcement.

Tap watch live to follow along at the top of the page - we'll also bring you the key lines here.

We've just heard from Kemi Badenoch on BBC Breakfast - here's a recap of what she said:

• Badenoch started with a tribute to Jeffrey Archer, saying she was "shocked" to learn of his death after receiving a text from the former Tory MP yesterday morning
• She was then quizzed about her pledge to invest £10bn in a "British Iron Dome" air defence system, which she says is needed because the nature of warfare is changing
• Badenoch insisted the pledge was affordable, with cuts to the welfare budget and net zero spending already proposed
• Finally, she was asked about her party's candidate selection for the next election - she said she only wanted "serious people" and insisted she was leading a "new Conservative Party"

As a reminder, we'll also hear from the Conservative leader on Radio 4's Today programme from 08:10 BST.

Asked about new candidates being recruited into the Conservative Party across the country - and whether Penny Mordaunt will ever return - Badenoch says: "I'm not the person who is deciding who gets elected where", calling the Conservatives a "democratic party".

She says local associations will pick the candidates they want.

"I want the public to know this is a new Conservative Party," she adds, saying "many new people will be joining" the party.

But "I only want serious people", she says.

Badenoch is quizzed about how the Conservatives would find £10bn to fund the new air defence system, as well as committing to the pensions triple lock and expanding those eligible for childcare support.

She insists the new drone defence system can be paid for, with £1bn earmarked every year for 10 years.

Badenoch says her party has already set out where savings will come from, including from the welfare budget, repurposing funding for net zero, and reinstating the two-child benefit cap.

She also says her party is looking at ways to restrict local housing allowances, adding that she would not cut taxes until there was money to pay for it.

"We know that difficult choices have to be made," she adds.