Kemi Badenoch has pledged to raise UK defence spending to 3% of GDP by the end of the decade, funded by a £10billion package of welfare cuts, in a move that piles pressure on the Government to match her commitment. The intervention comes as Sir Keir Starmer and new Chancellor John Healey face growing criticism over their reluctance to set a firm timetable for reaching the 3% target, despite Healey himself resigning as defence secretary in June over the issue and warnings from UK intelligence that Russia could attack a Nato country by 2030.

Badenoch's savings plan includes at least £4billion a year from welfare reform and restoring the two-child benefit cap, which she says would fund the accelerated defence investment. Under current Labour plans, spending would only rise from 2.6% of GDP next year to 2.7% by 2030, far below Germany's projected 3.5% and Poland's existing 4.7%. Andy Burnham was challenged in the Commons by Labour's own defence committee chairman, Tan Dhesi, over "kicking the can down the road", and Downing Street later confirmed Burnham's actual commitment is a looser 3.5% target by 2035, not 2030.