Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to place greater priority on defence expenditure amid heightened security concerns across the continent. Badenoch also urged increased defence spending, while retired military commanders expressed concern about the security challenges facing the country.

Britain has pledged to raise defence spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product by 2035, in line with a target agreed upon by NATO allies. Plans call for defence expenditure to reach 2.7% of GDP by 2027-28, though questions remain over how the administration intends to deliver further increases beyond that point.

Badenoch told a broadcaster that the administration was not taking sufficient action as instability across Europe continued to grow. Governments in France and Poland have announced measures to address what they describe as an expanding security challenge from Russia, and questions have been raised about the actions being taken by the current administration.

She questioned whether Wes Streeting, a former National Union of Students leader who has taken up the role of Defence Secretary, had been heard from, and argued that the notion of living in a peaceful post-Cold War era was no longer tenable given Russia's repeated challenges to Western resolve. Badenoch argued that the Prime Minister's position conveyed a signal that welfare spending would not be reduced to finance defence, a message she contended would register in Moscow just as clearly as it would domestically.

The Conservatives have stepped up their criticism of welfare expenditure over recent days, following Burnham's assertion that national defence ought not to be prioritised at the cost of social support. The Prime Minister's office stated that he remained dedicated to both increasing defence spending and reducing the welfare bill, while ruling out blunt reductions, in the wake of comments made at Prime Minister's Questions the previous week.

Admiral Lord West, a former First Sea Lord who previously held the role of security minister under Gordon Brown, told a broadcaster that the country's military capacity had been considerably reduced, and that a case existed for viewing the nation as effectively already at war. "We are operating in an ambiguous space – whether through cyber intrusions, unmanned aircraft approaching restricted boundaries, or threats directed at subsea infrastructure," he said.

Lord Dannatt, the former head of the British Army, called on Chancellor John Healey to outline a trajectory towards 3.5% defence spending at the Budget, arguing that both Healey and Andy Burnham were treating national security with insufficient seriousness. Separately, Badenoch has proposed reaching 3% of GDP in defence expenditure by 2030, funded through reductions to welfare spending.

The Conservative Party has put forward a plan to limit housing benefit payments, generating an estimated £4 billion to be directed towards defence spending. Party representatives dismissed concerns that the policy would leave people without homes, though they acknowledged that some affected individuals might need to relocate to areas with lower living costs. Separately, a Foreign Office spokesperson described recent statements from Russia as an attempt to divert attention from its ongoing military action in Ukraine.

Officials have consistently characterised Russia's hybrid activities as both unacceptable and a violation of established norms. In response to what it described as an escalation of hostile actions attributed to Russia, the government outlined a series of measures including higher defence expenditure, the removal of intelligence personnel, sanctions against the GRU, restrictions on illicit financial networks, and efforts to disrupt and prosecute those acting on Russia's behalf.

The government's statement affirmed that the UK stands alongside partner nations in upholding the defence of Ukraine, and that pressure from Moscow would not alter that position.