Kemi Badenoch raised the issue of defence spending during her first Prime Minister’s Questions as leader of the Opposition on Wednesday November 6.

Referring to Sir Keir Starmer, she told the House of Commons: “His Chancellor’s Budget did not even mention defence.”

Evaluation

The autumn Budget speech given by Chancellor Rachel Reeves on October 30 made specific reference to the Government’s defence plans.

The facts

The official transcript of Rachel Reeves’ first Budget speech as Chancellor includes her announcement of an injection of money into the Ministry of Defence and her comment that “there is no more important job for Government than to keep our country safe”.

She added: “And as set out in our manifesto, we will set a path to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence at a future fiscal event.

“Today, I am announcing a total increase to the Ministry of Defence’s budget of £2.9 billion next year, ensuring the UK comfortably exceeds our Nato commitments and providing guaranteed military support to Ukraine of £3 billion per year, for as long as it takes.”

The Hansard archive of the Budget speech also contains the same section on defence spending.

Mrs Badenoch’s official spokesman told the PA news agency the Tory leader did not mislead the House with her claim about the contents of the Budget speech, adding: “If you look at the full context, she was referring to the fact that Labour have not set out their plans to get to 2.5%, and indeed it’s not just her saying that, the OBR have said significant spending ambitions on defence remain unfunded.”

Although Mrs Badenoch had been referring to the 2.5% of GDP commitment earlier in the exchange, Sir Keir immediately rejected her Budget claim, saying defence was “clear and central” to the Government’s spending commitments.

Labour has not set a timeline for when it will reach the target of 2.5% of GDP being spent on defence, in contrast to a Conservative promise in the party’s 2024 general election manifesto to achieve this by 2030.

Links

Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) – November 6 2024 (archived clip)

Autumn Budget 2024 speech – Gov.uk (archived)

Financial Statement and Budget Report – Hansard (archived)

The Conservative and Unionist Party Manifesto 2024 (archived)