PMQs: New Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch claims MoD defence spending not mentioned in budget - but it was

Ms Badenoch, who recently became Tory leader after defeating Robert Jenrick, made the claim during her first appearance as opposition head during Prime Minister’s Questions this afternoon.

Referring to Sir Keir Starmer, she told the House of Commons: “His Chancellor’s Budget did not even mention defence.” The prime minister immediately rejected the claim, stating that defence was “clear and central” to the government’s spending commitments.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced on budget day that the MoD’s coffers will increase by £2.9bn. Ms Reeves said the pledge was made to ensure the UK “comfortably exceeds our Nato commitments”. She added that £3bn a year would be allocated to support Ukraine as Russia’s illegal invasion of the Eastern European nation continues.

Ms Reeves said £2.26bn will also be contributed to the G7’s revenue acceleration agreement, which would be repaid using profits from immobilised Russian sovereign assets - with further funds being allocated to remembrance services. Earlier in the Labour government’s tenure, it was announced that Royal Navy, Army, RAF and other military personnel would receive a 4.5 per cent pay rise. The Daily Telegraph claims in a column that this increase and other factors have already swallowed up the extra funds given to the Ministry of Defence.

A major omission from the budget was when the government was planning to increase defence spending as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP). Labour pledged they would increase this to 2.5 per cent of GDP. Mr Starmer caused some controversy earlier this year after stating that any timeframe for the increase would only be announced after a Strategic Defence Review (SDR).

The SDR is hyper analysing every aspect of the nation’s security, from which projects funding is allocated towards, to how the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers - HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen Elizabeth - will be deployed. Regarding the pledge, Ms Reeves previously said: “As set out in our manifesto, we will set a path to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence at a future fiscal event.”

Mrs Badenoch’s official spokesman said 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 per cent, and indeed it’s not just her saying that, the OBR have said significant spending ambitions on defence remain unfunded.”