In a Daily Mail opinion piece, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accuses Labour, and particularly newly appointed figures such as Andy Burnham, of prioritising welfare spending over national defence. She argues that Sir Keir Starmer's government has become fixated on taxing wealth creators to fund an ever-expanding benefits system, warning that this approach is driving entrepreneurs and high earners out of the country while leaving the Armed Forces underfunded.

Badenoch cites businessman Chris Rokos, described as Britain's third-largest taxpayer, who announced he is leaving the UK, taking around £330 million a year in tax revenue with him, equivalent to more than 38,000 average taxpayers. She sets out her own proposals, including reinstating the two-child benefit cap, cutting housing allowance, and removing tax exemptions from the Motability car scheme, framing these as costed measures to help fund a rise in defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030, while contrasting her plans with what she calls Labour's lack of a coherent strategy and Reform UK's internal disarray.