Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has said it is “astonishing” that Sir Keir Starmer will not find more money for defence despite the resignation of John Healey and others on the issue.

She told GB News: “If the Labour defence secretary says it’s not enough and we’re not safe, then why should I disagree with him?

“I have been concerned about this for a very long time. We’ve been waiting for this defence investment plan now for two years. We’re two years behind because Keir Starmer paused the plans the Conservatives were putting in place when he came in and said he wanted to have his own review.

“He’s had his own review led by a former Labour defence secretary who is also a former NATO Secretary General, and he’s not doing what the review asks for. And let’s remember that review came out before the war in Iran had started. Things have moved on. We need even more.

“£28 billion is the barest minimum, and the fact that Keir Starmer will not find that money is astonishing. I’m not surprised that John Healey resigned.”

She added: “Defence is not his number one priority, welfare is his number one priority. They’re not the Labour Party anymore, they are the welfare party. You look at the text messages that the [Work and Pensions] Secretary sent to Peter Mandelson, which have since been exposed. He said Labour are always asking who can we tax to pay for benefits, that’s what they, that’s what they’re about, that’s all they care about.

“I’m trying to show that there is a different way. Let’s bring the welfare bill down. Let’s get people into work, put that money into defence.”

On claims that the Conservatives hollowed out defence during their time in government, Badenoch said: “They’re making excuses. Defence spending started going down in 1989 when I was nine years old. We need to start thinking about what we are going to do now.

“Successive governments of all colours – Labour, Liberal Democrats, Conservative – we all thought that we were living in an era of peace. It is quite clear that that era is over. The peace dividend from the Cold War has been spent, defence spending started going up in 2022 under Boris Johnson. When the war in Ukraine started, when I came into cabinet, it went even further.

“Yes, it is good that Keir Starmer wants to increase defence spending, but it is not enough to talk about it. He actually has to do it, and he has to put enough into it. It’s no good putting in an amount that even his own people, his own ministers say this is so bad, we’re resigning. If the Labour defence ministers will not support the Labour government, then nobody else should.”

Asked about the proposed ban on use of social media by children, she said: “Social media is for adults, not for children. These platforms are designed to be addictive, and it is not for social media companies to be profiting off our children’s anxiety and mental health, so I’ve been campaigning for a ban on social media for under 16s.

“Keir Starmer said no initially, but because Conservatives put down amendments which have now gone into law, he has had to backtrack. So I’m glad he’s doing it, but he was forced into it. It wasn’t something that he wanted to do.

“He’s done it in a way that’s not perfect. I’m not going to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Let’s at least start here and see where we get to.”