John Healey Resigns As Defence Secretary Over Military Spending Plans
3 min read
John Healey has resigned as defence secretary warning that Keir Starmer's military spending plans fall way short.
Healey announced his resignation on Thursday, saying he had been "left with no other option" but to quit having been presented with details of how much additional money the government was planning to spend on defence.
He singled out the Treasury for criticism, saying it was "unwilling" to "commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats".
Following Healey's resignation, Times Radio also reported that defence minister Al Carns has said the DIP is "not fit for purpose" and Starmer has "got to sort this out".
Healey is considered a Starmer loyalist and his resignation represents a major blow to the Prime Minister.
The government is expected to publish its long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP) in the coming days after months of delay due to uncertainty about where the funding for such an investment would come from.
The PM and Chancellor Rachel Reeves are under pressure to significantly increase defence spending in response to global threats to the UK. Last year, the Prime Minister pledged to raise military spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027, with the ambition of increasing that figure to 3 per cent in the next parliament.
However, Nato allies have also pledged a new baseline for military spending to reach 3.5 per cent of GDP. Starmer has promised to achieve this goal by 2035.
At the Munich Security Conference in February, which Healey references in his resignation letter, Starmer said: "To meet the wider threat, it's clear that we are going to have to spend more, faster."
In his letter of resignation to Starmer, Healey said the DIP financial settlement, which he was first given in full on Monday afternoon, "falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time".
"The extra support is backloaded when the pressure of operations and imperative to speed up readiness to fight is in the first two years and it rises to just 2.58 per cent of GDP in 2030, when we will reach 2.6 per cent next year with the investment we are already making."
The implication here is that Starmer had offered Healey just a 0.08 per cent rise in spending.
He added: "Without a DIP that meets the moment in this way, I am being forced to make decisions that would reduce the readiness of our Forces and increase the risk to personnel on operations, and could make the country less safe.
"After explaining to you that I would not be able to accept a DIP settlement that does not give our Forces the resources they need, I am now left with no other option than to submit my resignation as your Defence Secretary."
Responding to Healey's resignation, Defence Committee chair and Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi said: "That a defence secretary of his integrity and commitment has felt compelled to resign in response to the inadequacy of the proposed defence settlement is a grave moment. The government must take that warning with the utmost seriousness."
