Badenoch denies plan for ‘British Iron Dome’ – after Tories use phrase in press release

Leader also says party is ‘not out of the woods’ and she would rather have another election than form coalition with Reform

Kemi Badenoch has denied she compared a new air defence system proposed by the Conservative party to Israel’s Iron Dome, despite using the term in her press release and a newspaper article.

The party has proposed allotting £1bn a year towards building the system, though the former army general Richard Barrons told Times Radio the cost of a system similar to Israel’s would be upwards of £100bn.

In a round of interviews at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, Badenoch also admitted her party was “not out of the woods” despite what appeared to be the most unified and optimistic gathering in years. The Tories are still polling below their 2024 election defeat.

She also said she would rather have another general election than do a deal with Reform UK to form a government, as senior party figures attacked their rightwing rivals with a ferocity that appeared to make the chances of any pact more remote.

The Tories have promised to cut employers’ national insurance from 15% to 7.5% for people aged 21-24 in an attempt to drive down the youth unemployment rate. Badenoch is expected to say she will fund the £2.3bn scheme through welfare cuts.

In several interviews, the Tory leader was forced to clarify her party’s “iron dome” defence policy, as she tried to distance herself from using the term. She told Times Radio it was a “semantic argument” and that the new system would protect Britain from increasing threats.

In a piece by Badenoch in the Sun, which illustrated its front page with an image of Israel’s Iron Dome, she wrote: “Modelled on Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’, Britannia Shield will invest £10bn over 10 years in the radar, missiles and technology needed to detect these threats and stop them before they reach British soil.”

The shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, likened the phrase “iron dome” to the vacuum cleaner brand name Hoover when asked why Badenoch had denied the Conservatives were proposing an Iron Dome-style system.