Badenoch backtracks on 'Iron Dome' comparison hours after her own article called Britannia Shield 'modelled' on it
From the Newshound archive · first published 6 October 2026 · last updated 7 October 2026.
Kemi Badenoch, Conservative Party leader, whose signed Sun article also described the £10bn scheme as "modelled on Israel's 'Iron Dome'" — a comparison she later disowned on BBC Radio 4 and Times Radio.Iron Dome intercepting a rocket barrage over central Israel — the system Kemi Badenoch's signed Sun article described the Conservatives' £10bn Britannia Shield plan as "modelled on.
Kemi Badenoch was forced to disown her own words on Tuesday after her signed Sun article described the Conservatives' £10bn 'Britannia Shield' air defence plan as "modelled on Israel's 'Iron Dome'" — only for her to insist hours later on Times Radio and BBC Radio 4: "We haven't called it an Iron Dome." The Tory press release had also described the scheme as "in essence a British Iron Dome." Former army general Richard Barrons warned that a system truly comparable to Israel's would cost "upwards of £100bn" — ten times the Conservative pledge.
Badenoch also struggled to explain how many units the system would need when asked, saying: 'I cannot do that — you need someone from the defence industry.'
The US Air Force reportedly pulled its B1 bombers from RAF Fairford over drone-attack fears, which Badenoch cited as proof Labour is failing on defence.
