Wishaw MP Pamela Nash has resigned from her role as parliamentary private secretary to John Healey, following his dramatic resignation as Defence Secretary on Thursday morning over a dispute about long-term military funding.
Resignation Letter to Starmer
In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour MP for Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke stated: "I regret to inform you that I am resigning as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Defence, and the Defence Ministerial Team, following John Healey's resignation earlier today. This is not an action I take lightly."
She emphasized: "The defence of our nation is the most important responsibility for any government. The delays and difficulties with securing the necessary funding to progress the defence investment plan has been the latest issue that is damaging to the trust of the public in us."
Nash noted the impact of recent election results: "We saw this laid bare in last month's election results. Our Government's successes are consistently drowned out by mistakes and the failure to be bold when it matters most."
Wider Political Context
She warned: "Our country is more divided now than it has ever been in my lifetime, and our political opponents are both the provokers and the beneficiaries. If we cannot provide a strong vision for the UK's future, and enact a clear, progressive route to get there, then we are allowing the unthinkable: for those opponents to take power. We must do better."
Thanking Starmer for his support, Nash said she would continue to strive from the backbenches for her constituents and hoped the movement could unite to deliver for people across the UK.
Healey's Resignation and Carns' Departure
In his resignation letter, John Healey claimed Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had been "unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling", to provide adequate funding for the defence investment plan (Dip).
Defence Minister Al Carns also quit, writing: "I have sat in the rooms, seen the assessments, and spoken to the commanders who will be asked to do more with less, and I cannot in good conscience stand at the dispatch box and defend a level of investment I know to be inadequate to the task. A serious country funds its defence to meet the threat it actually faces, not the threat it wishes it faced."
Dan Jarvis, a former Parachute Regiment officer, was appointed as Healey's successor late on Thursday.
The Dip, a blueprint for sustained military investment, was originally called for by the strategic defence review almost exactly a year ago and has been long delayed by funding wrangling.
