Tories Plan For British Iron Dome

Badenoch’s Vision ‘Modelled on Israel’s Iron Dome’

At this week’s Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, Kemi Badenoch put militarisation back at the top of the agenda with the announcement of Britannia Shield – a £10 billion integrated air and missile defence network described in her own words as being “modelled on Israel’s Iron Dome”

The Conservative Party’s press release also described it as “in essence, a British Iron Dome”. But following immediate pushback and scrutiny, Badenoch pivoted on the morning broadcast round, insisting, “We haven’t called it an Iron Dome”, blaming journalists for the misunderstanding.

What the UK Already Has

The announcement was presented as a new ambition. However, there is already a British-Israeli product currently in operation. Sky Sabre is a ground-based air defence system operated, in large part, by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Founded as an Israeli government R&D lab, Rafael is now a central player in the British arms industry, with the MOD referring to the Rafael component of the Sky Sabre system as “The Brain”

Even for the war profiteers, this partnership came as a surprise – with one defence executive stating ‘Politically, industry thought that was a route the UK government wouldn’t go down. It’s something other MoD’s would never have done’.

There are, at the very least, £182 million in confirmed MoD contracts with Rafael, as part of a wider effort to integrate Israel’s arms industry into Britain’s military. With ever-loudening demands to empty the public purse into defence, how much has been ear-marked for Rafael?

Who Would Pay?

Badenoch wishes to fund the programme through welfare cuts, arguing that the Burnham government was “misallocating resources by prioritising social security over national security” – framing the choice as one between buying bombs and public services.

£570 million has already been cut from Health & Social Care alongside £314 million from Education to fund the confirmed portion of the Defence Investment Plan. Under the new Tory proposal, how much more are social care and education expected to yield to the arms trade for their appetites to be satiated?

Much of the Tory conference was centred on attacking Labour – on the economy, NHS, defence spending (or lack thereof). On virtually every issue, the two parties presented themselves as occupying opposing positions. There is, however, one relationship both appear equally committed to maintaining.

In July, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting signed a £708 million contract extension with BAE Systems at Farnborough. Burnham subsequently visited BAE sites in Barrow-in-Furness. 

At the Tory conference this week, BAE Systems sponsored and co-hosted a fringe event headlined by Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge – focusing on the opportunities presented by Britannia Shield. Different parties, both ending up in the pockets of the same company.

Defence spending has become the dominant political pressure point of this parliament. The Conservatives are using it to frame Burnham as indecisive and weak – reporting this week that he is considering delaying an announcement on when Britain will reach 3% of GDP on defence. Badenoch has called this a failure to provide “the certainty needed to strengthen Britain’s defences.”

For the most part, to date, the Prime Minister has conceded to the narrative that significant additional military spending is necessary. However, there have been positive signs of recognition that a meaningful conception of security must go beyond military power.

At Prime Minister’s Questions in September, when pressed by Badenoch on defence funding, Burnham responded: “Our national security cannot come at the expense of our social security. Having strong national security also depends on having resilience in our communities.” On the Conservative proposal to divert £4 billion from social housing into defence, he said: “If you take £4bn out in the next few years you will make families homeless. You will increase rough sleeping on our streets.”

The response in the media went along the lines of “Burnham puts benefits before national security.”

As establishment media, defence lobbyists, and political parties from across the spectrum converge to apply pressure on the Burnham government to maximise defence spending, pour public money into arms companies, both British and Israeli, while gutting our social infrastructure to further line the pockets of arms dealers and politicians (blurred lines), it becomes more imperative that we, too, apply pressure relentlessly to turn the tide in the opposite direction.

Write to your MP’s, do your e-actions, show up for the campaign whether it be on the streets or the socials. From our hospitals to our schools, we’re all being asked to make sacrifices so more public funds can be transferred to the accounts of companies we know to be complicit in genocide. 

Help CAAT put an end to the arms trade – 100% of our campaigning work is funded by supporters like you. Either through regular giving or one-off donations, our supporters have built this campaign from the ground up and brought us to where we are now – and we still have some ways to go. Keep CAAT Campaigning.

Warm Regards,
Hassan