Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch launched a sharp attack on Labour's handling of defence as an outgoing Sir Keir Starmer travelled to a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, carrying what critics have called an unfunded defence plan. She accused the Prime Minister of leaving a £5billion "black hole" in the Government's Defence Investment Plan for his successor to resolve, arguing that Britain had been left without any "grown-ups" in charge at a moment of heightened tension with Russia.

Badenoch, speaking at a Conservative rally in central London, also targeted the two figures seen as contenders to lead the country. She claimed Andy Burnham — widely expected to succeed Starmer — wanted a "summer holiday" and had "absolutely nothing to say" about the Russian threat, while Reform UK's Nigel Farage was distracted by a scandal over donations. She argued Vladimir Putin would not be worried by either man. Starmer, meanwhile, faced the prospect of a fresh rebuke from US President Donald Trump over defence spending at the summit.