Conflict is coming & we must act NOW, Kemi says – as she tells PM to call election if he doesn’t hike defence spending

NewsPolitics KEMI Badenoch has said conflict is coming to Britain and that Andy Burnham must call an election if he does not increase defence spending. Britain’s allies are preparing for war and are on course to spend at least 3.5 per cent of GDP on their armed forces, Ms Badenoch said. The Tory leader said the party will hike defence spending to three per cent by 2030 She urged the Prime Minister to hike defence spending or call an election Credit: Getty Images She said: “Our enemies are not going to sit around and wait for Labour to find the money to fight them. “Within the next four years the UK could be at war with the world’s biggest nuclear-armed state.” Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! She added: “If a NATO country is attacked by Russia between now and the next general election, the Prime Minister cannot defend us by capping bus fares. “If we are going to fund our defence properly, we need a stronger economy. Ms Badenoch added that being an island might make us feel safer but it will not prevent a conflict coming to our shores. The Tory leader said Britons were increasingly worried that Labour was not putting the country on a war footing. Last night she laid out her plans to dramatically cut welfare in order to spend at least three per cent of GDP on defence by 2030. Prime Minister Andy Burnham is under increasing pressure to lift defence spending after failing to commit to this target. Most read in The Sun The Conservatives have said they will save £4billion from housing benefit reforms as well as cashing-in £3.1billion from reimposing the two-child benefit cap. Ms Badenoch also said a commitment to remaining part of NATO was a redline for any Tory MP. It comes after Diane Abbott falsely blamed the war in Ukraine on NATO aggression. The Tory leader said: “There is only so much diversity of opinion we will tolerate. Being against NATO I’m afraid is not one of the things Conservatives stand for. “We believe in strong defence. NATO is the bedrock of European security without it we would be overturn by so many foreign aggressors.” Ms Badenoch said she believed Ms Abbott was not the only Labour MP who believed in pulling the country out of NATO. The Hackney North MP was recently readmitted to the Labour Party after being kicked out “That is the Labour Party, that is the Labour Party view she is not the only one who thinks that, there are very many other Labour MPs who think that they are just not saying it.” Comment now