Budget 2026: Healey leans on private sector for defence investment drive Industrials The Chancellor has set up a new defence financing taskforce and unveiled fresh funding for investment in the arms industry amid a concerted effort to lean on the private sector to drive Britain’s rearmament push. John Healey swerved any concrete public sector defence pledges at his maiden Budget, promising to provide detail on how the [...]
Rolls-Royce, Babcock shares jump on Healey’s defence borrowing plan Markets Defence stocks were handed a boost on Monday morning following reports that Chancellor John Healey was set to borrow billions to invest in the military at the forthcoming Budget. Rolls-Royce was up nearly two per cent in early trading to 1,184.40p, while Melrose was up 1.4 per cent. Both are key players in aerospace and [...]
Tories say £10bn ‘Britannia Shield’ would fend off missiles Politics Kemi Badenoch has said a “Britannia shield” worth £10bn would fend off missile attacks from hostile countries as the party expanded its defence policy on Tuesday. Badenoch said the extra spending on defence pledged by the party last month would be allocated on radar, command and interceptor missile systems that would protect Britain’s infrastructure and [...]
Land shortage leaves Nato defence targets at risk, Streeting warned September 29, 2026 The UK risks falling short of Nato defence spending targets unless it immediately slashes planning red tape to address its land shortage, the government has been warned. Demand for defence-related industries and logistics space is set to surge to 32m sq ft by 2033 if the government meets Nato’s defence spending targets. The UK is [...]
Strong defence is the foundation of prosperity September 21, 2026 The City’s success and status as a global financial hub rests on the foundations of stability, rule of law and security. So the City should show its support however it can and we’re glad to play our own part, says Susan Langley This year’s Strategic Defence Review shone a spotlight on a question we can [...]
Badenoch: Cut benefits to fund £10bn defence spending package September 2, 2026 Kemi Badenoch has urged the government to cut housing benefits, child benefits and re-route public investment in order to fund a £10bn boost on defence spending every year. The Tory leader, who had previously called for an increase in defence expenditure without laying out full funding plans, said that Chancellor John Healey “should adopt” plans [...]
Healey announces early Budget July 31, 2026 John Healey has confirmed he will deliver his first Budget on 28 October as he pledged to “shift power and money out of Westminster”. The Chancellor said on Friday that his first fiscal statement would “back Britain’s communities” setting the stage for a Budget that economists have predicted will be the country’s third in a [...]
AI, drones and data: Defence giants splash record $4.1bn on tech start-ups July 27, 2026 Investment in defence tech start-ups has reached a record high this year as the world’s biggest arms companies step up spending on new military technology. New figures from Dealroom show defence contractors including BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Airbus have participated in $4.1bn (£3bn) of venture capital funding rounds so far this year, the highest [...]
Burnham vows to ‘get serious’ about slashing welfare bill July 27, 2026 Andy Burnham has vowed that he will “get serious” about slashing the welfare bill, as the Prime Minister hunts savings to boost defence spending. “We’ve got to get really serious as a country [about] getting the welfare bill down,” Burnham told the BBC in his first full interview since becoming Prime Minister last week. He [...]
Rolls-Royce shares rise as Burnham pledges investment in British defence July 9, 2026 Shares in London-listed defence firms including Rolls-Royce and Babcock rose on Thursday morning after Prime Minister-to-be Andy Burnham pledged to drive investment into Britain’s defence industry. The Makerfield MP said strengthening Britain’s defence will be his “first priority” if he enters Number 10 – as he is expected to later this month – but insisted [...]