Owen Jones Targets Badenoch's £10bn Defence Plan and £23bn Welfare Cuts
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Oct 7
Owen Jones Targets Badenoch's £10bn Defence Plan and £23bn Welfare Cuts
2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Oct 7
Summary
Owen Jones argues Kemi Badenoch is escaping proper scrutiny just as the Conservatives regain ground and more than 4 in 10 Britons say she is performing well as leader.
£10bn over 10 years for a UK-wide air defence system is his main example, with Badenoch accused of denying an Iron Dome comparison and proposing a plan former general Richard Barrons says would cost more than £100bn.
Climate and welfare form the broader attack: Jones says Badenoch wants to repeal the Climate Change Act, reject net zero by 2050 and push £23bn of cuts that would hit migrants, children, sick and disabled people.
He also portrays her agenda as more authoritarian and market-radical, citing support for banning pro-Palestinian protests, leaving the ECHR, expanding deportation powers and loosening bank safeguards.
The column concludes that Farage's scandals and Labour's troubles have made Badenoch look comparatively stable, masking what Jones calls the most right-wing Tory platform in the party's history.