The number one priority for any government is to protect our country. To meet our commitments, we must raise spending to 3% of GDP by 2030. That is why I welcome the Conservative Party's plan to fund our defence by cutting our bloated welfare bill.
The Chief of the Defence Staff has said that the Ministry of Defence needs an extra £28 billion. Labour has allowed defence to go underfunded while welfare spending has ballooned by £19.8 billion in the past year.
A Conservative Government would:
- Reinstate the two-child benefit cap - saving £3.2 billion a year
- Reallocate up to £50 billion of funding currently spent on costly environmental projects through a Sovereign Defence Fund
- Support service personnel through a new Armed Forces Housing Association
- Introduce a Tax Free Reservists Scheme
- Grow Britain's Armed Forces Reserves to 50,000 personnel
- Build the Britannia Shield air defence system to protect critical infrastructure from missiles and drones
We have been clear that we need to make these changes now, and that is why I voted for a motion to call on the Government to cut welfare and fund defence in an Opposition Day Debate in June 2026. In Castle Point, 1,380 people now claim welfare, an increase of 125 since June 2024, just before Labour came into office. These numbers are simply not sustainable.
At the same time, people in Castle Point are proud of our armed forces and they know that we need to put more money in defence and bring defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP this Parliament, rather than Labour’s target of as late as 2034. We have explained where the money comes from, how Labour could do this, and are now restating our offer to work together in the national interest to achieve it.