"The Conservatives have promised to cut funding for green energy projects to boost defence spending and ensure the country is ready for war. Leader Kemi Badenoch said if her party won power it would reallocate 17bn to invest in the UK's military because "defence of the realm must be the first priority of any government". Alongside investment from the private sector, the Tories said their proposals for a new Sovereign Defence Fund would mobilise up to 50bn."
"Labour accused the Tories of "fantasy figures" and of leaving the armed forces "hollowed out and underfunded" when they were in government. "Look at their record: their time in office starved our forces of funding, drove down morale and left Britain less safe. They did it before, and they'd do it again," a party spokesperson said. "With Labour, the UK armed forces will see a record 270bn investment in this Parliament through our historic defence spending uplift.""
Kemi Badenoch said the Conservatives would reallocate 17bn to invest in the UK's military and create a Sovereign Defence Fund expected to mobilise up to 50bn alongside private investment. The plan would invest in UK defence start-ups, reduce reliance on hostile-state supply chains, and fund technologies such as drones. Under the proposals 6bn would be moved from the government's research and development budget to the Ministry of Defence. The National Wealth Fund would be repurposed as a National Defence and Resilience Bank. The Conservatives call for faster defence spending, targeting 3% of GDP by the end of the decade.
Read at www.bbc.com
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