Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has urged the Government to boost defence spending, saying Britain faces a more dangerous world.

Ms Badenoch used a visit to the Farnborough International Airshow today on Tuesday, July 21 to warn that Britain must undertake “the biggest peacetime programme of rearmament in our country’s history”.

The Leader of the Opposition said money to pay for it should come from welfare savings rather than borrowing.

Speaking on the second day of the airshow and following the appointment of Andy Burnham as Prime Minister, the Conservative leader said decades of underinvestment had left the UK's armed forces ill-equipped for a more dangerous world.

Citing Russia's invasion of Ukraine and rising tensions with China, she said "the era of unchallenged Western dominance is over".

Ms Badenoch renewed her offer to work with Prime Minister Andy Burnham to reduce the benefits bill, arguing the savings should be redirected into defence.

She also repeated a pledge to reallocate £17 billion of government research funding, which she said was being wasted on "failed net-zero projects", into a new fund for British defence start-ups.

The Opposition leader set out her priorities for the military and defence sector.

These included building capability through faster procurement, cutting red tape that she said had forced at least one small drone company to test its technology abroad, and tackling high energy costs faced by manufacturers.

She also pledged to end what she described as "lawfare" against service personnel, and building the political will to match countries such as Poland and Finland on military readiness.

She also called on the new chancellor John Healey to confirm defence spending would reach 3 percent of GDP by the end of the month, following his resignation as Defence Secretary over what she described as a £5 billion shortfall in the previous government's plans.

Airshow organisers said £86.2 billion worth of deals had already been announced during this week's event, with further announcements expected over the remaining days.