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Kemi Badenoch says her party will invest £10bn in a new missile and drone defence system, dubbed the "Britannia Shield", if they win the next general election.

It comprise three components - an integrated network of radar, upgraded command and control systems, as well as interceptor missiles as well as counter-drone capabilities.

Its aim will be to protect "critical national infrastructure" against a new type of warfare.

The Conservative leader says it would be funded through welfare cuts and would see £1bn paid towards the defence system annually for 10 years.

The party likened the proposed system to Israel's Iron Dome - we'll have more on what that is in our next post - but Badenoch has said Britannia Shield's level of capability will be different.

In the last hour, Kemi Badenoch appeared on the Today programme to discuss the Conservatives' latest policy announcement ahead of her party conference speech tomorrow. Here's what we heard:

• She said the "Britannia Shield" defence system proposed by the Conservatives will aim to protect "critical national infrastructure" against a new type of warfare
• Challenged on whether the £10bn allotted to the system is enough to cover the cost, Badenoch insisted the sum would be sufficient
• The Conservative leader said she had found the savings to pay for the so-called "Britannia Shield" through proposed measures like cutting the welfare bill
• Asked about polling, Badenoch said it would take time to prove her party was different to the one the electorate voted against two years ago
• On the prospect of forming a deal or coalition, she said the "seeds" of her party's problems were sewn when the 2010 coalition was formed
• She added that while she wants Reform UK voters back, some of the party's politicians are "just not our kind of people"

Badenoch wraps up her interview by reflecting on Jeffrey Archer's legacy.

"We were very fond of him, I think we wished he was better behaved, I think his family probably felt the impact of that more than we did," she says.

Despite finding himself in "tricky situations", she says he was given further chances - showing that he was well-liked.

She adds that she could see why so many were fond of him, and says "colourful" would be the best way to describe him.

"I thought he was a good person to me, I had a very good experience of knowing him and I will miss him very much."

Asked if she is open to deals or coalitions with other parties on the right, Badenoch says that "the seeds of our problems were sewn in" when the party joined with the Liberal Democrats in 2010.

"We had to make concessions," she says, adding that she wants people to know that "if they vote Conservative, they get Conservative".

While she says she likes Reform UK's voters and wants them back, some of the party's politicians are "just not our kind of people".

"We had a lot of problems before," she says. "Many of them have gone to Reform, I don't want them back."

Badenoch is asked about recent figures from polling expert John Curtice which show the Conservative party is polling below its 2024 general election result. Will the Conservatives be ready?

Badenoch says she is polling "very well" personally, adding: "People do look at who they want to be leader".

"We need to remember that government is not just about elections", she adds, calling this the "beginning not the end".

She says parties keep focusing on the election win and then have "no idea" what they're going to do when they get into office.

Badenoch says she's not going to make the "mistakes" of her predecessors, adding: "I'm laying out my plans."

Asked about winning over right-leaning voters, she says she doesn't think this is about "uniting the right". Rather, it is about "uniting the country", she says, adding that it is becoming "more and more divided".

When asked if promises she has made, including on defence and taxes, are "fiscally credible", Badenoch says the Conservatives are not "messing around" and are "very concerned" about the state of defence and the economy.

The Conservative leader insists she has found the savings to pay for 'Britannia Shield', including through measures such as cutting the welfare bill and repurposing "old research funds" into a sovereign defence fund.

On polling, Badenoch says that she needs to show that her party is different to the party people said no to two years ago, which "takes time".

Asked to clarify how the defence system would work and why it's being compared to Israel's Iron Dome, Badenoch says it's the "same type of thing", a defence system with "mobile" interceptors.

BBC presenter Anna Foster notes that likening the proposed system to the Iron Dome, as the Tories did in the announcement of the policy, is "not accurate".

She notes a similar system would defend the UK from threats "70km or so away, which would be France and Ireland, essentially".

Badenoch says the UK doesn't face the same daily level of threat Israel faces, so the level of capability would be different.

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She adds that they don't want to copy Israel's Iron Dome but do "what other European countries are doing", which is design "something specific for the kind of threat that we face here". Badenoch emphasises that they're naming it the 'Britannia Shield', not the Iron Dome.

Pushed that the allotted £10bn is insufficient to cover the costs, Badenoch says that it would.

Badenoch adds that she is "really worried" that the government "is not talking about defence at all" and "don't have a fully funded" plan.

"We're very worried and we have found 3% of GDP to spend on defence by 2030," she says, adding that "this is more than anyone else is doing".

Kemi Badenoch tells Radio 4's Today programme the defence system proposed by the Conservatives is "different from Israel's Iron Dome".

She says Israel faces "daily threats", while those faced by the UK "are different". But at the moment, the UK does not have "this sort of capability", she says.

The Conservative leader says recent attacks on Cyprus, as well as Iranian strikes on Gulf countries, show there is a "new type of warfare".

She says we could see threats like people "coming very close to the English Channel" and sending drones and missiles to attack "critical national infrastructure".

Badenoch adds that the system would aim to protect critical infrastructure across the UK, as well as assets abroad.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is now speaking on Radio 4's Today programme.

It follows her appearance on BBC Breakfast a short while ago, where she spoke about topics including her party's latest defence announcement.

Tap watch live to follow along at the top of the page - we'll also bring you the key lines here.

We've just heard from Kemi Badenoch on BBC Breakfast - here's a recap of what she said:

• Badenoch started with a tribute to Jeffrey Archer, saying she was "shocked" to learn of his death after receiving a text from the former Tory MP yesterday morning
• She was then quizzed about her pledge to invest £10bn in a "British Iron Dome" air defence system, which she says is needed because the nature of warfare is changing
• Badenoch insisted the pledge was affordable, with cuts to the welfare budget and net zero spending already proposed
• Finally, she was asked about her party's candidate selection for the next election - she said she only wanted "serious people" and insisted she was leading a "new Conservative Party"

As a reminder, we'll also hear from the Conservative leader on Radio 4's Today programme from 08:10 BST.

Asked about new candidates being recruited into the Conservative Party across the country - and whether Penny Mordaunt will ever return - Badenoch says: "I'm not the person who is deciding who gets elected where", calling the Conservatives a "democratic party".

She says local associations will pick the candidates they want.

"I want the public to know this is a new Conservative Party," she adds, saying "many new people will be joining" the party.

But "I only want serious people", she says.

Badenoch is quizzed about how the Conservatives would find £10bn to fund the new air defence system, as well as committing to the pensions triple lock and expanding those eligible for childcare support.

She insists the new drone defence system can be paid for, with £1bn earmarked every year for 10 years.

Badenoch says her party has already set out where savings will come from, including from the welfare budget, repurposing funding for net zero, and reinstating the two-child benefit cap.

She also says her party is looking at ways to restrict local housing allowances, adding that she would not cut taxes until there was money to pay for it.

"We know that difficult choices have to be made," she adds.

Asked about her party's latest defence announcement - to create a defence system named "Britannia Shield" - she says it is a missile defence system that is needed because warfare is changing.

She says she has been listening to people like Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky and it is clear that global threats today "are different".

The policy would involve "investing £1bn a year over 10 years" so if a hostile country fires a drone or poses another threat to the UK, "we're able to protect ourselves".

Asked whether the system - compared to Israel's Iron Dome - would be different to the Israeli one, she says that "what we are seeing with drone technology is that people can get close enough to fire drones at the UK". She says this is what is being seen at bases like Cyprus.

She says the "Conservatives are thinking about the future", adding that they have explained where the money to pay for it would come from.

On Labour, she says: "I want our government to be doing something like this but they're not talking about defence at all." She says the country "need[s] to start getting ready now".

Badenoch is first asked about the death of Jeffrey Archer, who she says texted her only yesterday morning to compliment her "great outfit" and "great speech".

The Conservative leader says she was "shocked" to learn of his death, that he lived a "colourful life" and was "very much loved by the Conservative family".

Badenoch describes him as someone who "believed in Conservatism" and as being a "great storyteller".

She also acknowledges controversial parts of his life, but says he made amends and "wanted to do a lot of good in the world".

Kemi Badenoch is now speaking to BBC Breakfast - you can follow along and watch live at the top of the page.

We'll bring you key lines from the interview in our next few posts.

We are now entering day three of the Conservative Party conference, which kicked off on Sunday. Here are some pictures from the event in Birmingham so far.

Yesterday's events included a speech from shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith, while leader Kemi Badenoch's keynote speech will take place tomorrow.

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Kemi Badenoch's morning media round comes after the death of bestselling author and former politician Jeffrey Archer.

The former Conservative MP sold more than 300 million books in his five-decade writing career, including the Clifton Chronicles, and Kane and Abel.

Archer's publisher HarperCollins said the author died "suddenly and peacefully at home" between writing sessions.

In a social media post, Badenoch described the news of Archer's death as "a huge shock", adding that she was "incredibly saddened" and calling him "a great source of encouragement to me personally".

Archer served as an MP for five years from 1969 before becoming Conservative Party deputy chairman. His political career was paused in 2001 when he was jailed for four years for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

He was released in 2003 and returned to the House of Lords until he retired in 2024.

Dan Woodland
Live reporter

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The "Britannia Shield" isn't the only policy the Conservatives have announced in recent weeks to earmark what they'd do if the party returned to government.

Here's a quick rundown:

• The Tories would scrap the "cliff edge" that means parents in England lose out on childcare support when they earn more than £100,000 a year
• Badenoch has vowed to keep the state pension triple lock, which Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to change if Labour wins the next election
• The party has promised to build 50,000 new prison places in England and Wales to stop criminals being released early. It would cost £2bn per year to build and run the new prisons, funded by spending cuts including to the foreign aid budget
• The Conservatives would introduce new work requirements for under-25s claiming benefits, including introducing new rules for payments for young people who are fit to work but have not worked for six months continuously

• The party has also promised to prevent long-term jobless benefit claimants from spending their welfare payments on alcohol, cigarettes and gamblingby introducing changes to the Universal Credit scheme

Image source, Getty Images

The Conservatives have pledged to invest £10bn in a new missile and drone defence system to defend the UK if they win the next general election.

The party says the so-called "Britannia Shield" would provide an integrated network of radar, command and control systems, as well as interceptor missiles.

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge is expected to describe the pledge as "the most significant upgrade to UK air defence for generations" when he delivers a speech at the Conservative Party conference later today.

The Tories have described their plans as "a British 'Iron Dome'" - a reference to Israel's air defence system.

The party says it will be capable of defending the UK's critical national infrastructure, military bases and sovereign territories from sophisticated threats.

But Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has said the Tories had an "abysmal record" of defending Britain during their 14 years in power, adding: "They owe Britain an apology, not another lecture."

You can read more here.

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Kemi Badenoch is kicking off day three of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham with a morning media run.

The opposition leader has vowed her party is renewed and different from the one that lost the 2024 general election in a historic defeat.

There has been a flurry of new policy announcements from the Tories in recent days, including scrapping the £100,000 net income threshold on free childcare, building an extra 50,000 prison places, and new work requirements for under-25s claiming benefits.

The party is also set to share more details about their plan to invest £10bn in a new missile and drone defence system - the so-called "Britannia Shield". We'll have more on this policy in our next post.

Badenoch will be speaking to BBC Breakfast at 07:30 BST, and to Radio 4's Today programme at 08:10

• Stay with us as we bring you key lines and developments - you will also be able to watch her interview at the top of this page