John Healey has launched a blistering attack on the Treasury in his resignation statement as Prime Minister Keir Starmer hinted there will be no increase in the defence settlement. The former Defence Secretary, who dramatically quit the government last week, reiterated his call for Britain to commit to spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030.
In a pointed criticism of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s department, Healey said on Tuesday: “Our adversaries do not follow timetables set by the Treasury.” He delivered a grave warning to MPs in the Commons chamber that the government’s current military spending proposals “fall well short” at a time of global volatility.
Taking his seat on the backbenches for the first time in a decade—alongside Labour MP Al Carns, who also quit the Ministry of Defence last week—Healey stated: “I took the decision to resign with the very greatest regret and reluctance, but I continue to be certain about this decision. In time I believe it will be seen as necessary in securing the future of our armed forces and our alliances.”
He added: “At this dangerous time, I see the current defence investment plans falling well short of what is required, a rise at 0.08% from next year to 2030, no date for reaching 3%, no path to 3.5%. By 2030, well over half of Nato members will be spending 3% or more. And when allies are looking for British leadership, we must not fall behind.”
“When Nato needs European nations to step up, we must not fall short. Our adversaries do not follow timetables set by the Treasury.”
His successor as Defence Secretary, Labour MP Dan Jarvis, is now attempting to salvage the defence investment plans (DIP) ahead of July’s Nato summit. The plan—already more than six months late—was left in tatters after Healey’s resignation. The Mirror reported last week that the senior Labour figure felt a 0.08% increase in defence spending committed in the plan was insufficient to end years of hollowing out of Britain's armed forces.
Healey continued: “My decision last week was about our country, not career. I love the job, I won’t miss going to bed with three phones or 3am phone calls, and I’m proud of what we’ve done in less than two years as a Labour Government.”
His resignation speech was followed by an address from Al Carns, who was sitting on the same bench as his former boss at the MoD. The ex-Royal Marines officer repeated his own criticisms of the Government’s approach to defence, saying its plans were neither adequately funded nor preparing for the wars Britain is likely to fight. He said: “The reality is we are spending too much time preparing for last year’s war, not tomorrow’s.”
Their statements in the Commons came as Starmer appeared to signal at the G7 summit in Evian, France, that there would be no extra cash beyond what has already been planned in the Defence Investment Plan. Asked specifically if there would be more money pledged since Healey quit, he told reporters Labour had turned around defence spending and committed new money since the Tories hollowed out the armed forces. But he did not commit to new DIP funding, saying Jarvis may want to change how the money is spent.
Starmer said: “What we're now doing is going through with the new Defence Secretary, who's obviously reading into this, where he wants that money to be spent, because he will now want to look at his own priorities and capabilities, and he may want to take a slightly different approach as to what those capabilities and priorities are now he's looking at the plan.”
“So that is what we're doing. But compared with the previous government that hollowed out our armed forces, we're the government that is significantly increasing defending defence spending—hard edged, because I've taken the decision to reallocate resource, existing resource from departments into defence outside the spending review, and that is hard edged, as you can imagine, because these things are normally done in a spending review or at a budget.”
