John Healey has resigned as defence secretary, accusing Sir Keir Starmer of failing to properly fund the Defence Investment Plan (Dip). In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Healey said Sir Keir had been “unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats”.
Funding shortfall
The Dip, originally called for by the Strategic Defence Review almost exactly a year ago, has been long delayed by wrangling over funding. Mr Healey said he had received a financial settlement for the Dip on Monday afternoon which “falls well short of what is required”, with extra support coming after 2030 when the “imperative to speed up readiness to fight is in the first two years”.
He stated: “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.”
Government plans
Sources said the Government had wanted to publish the Dip on Thursday, but with a £13.5 billion uplift that military chiefs said would not be enough to fund the transformation the armed forces needed. While the Government has committed to spending 3.5% of GDP on defence by 2035, Mr Healey said the plan he was presented with on Monday moved too slowly, with defence spending rising to just 2.68% in 2030 after hitting 2.6% next year.
He added that without a Dip that “meets the moment” he was “forced to make decisions that would reduce the readiness of our forces and increase the risk to personnel on operations, and could make our country less safe”. Sources said the deal offered by the Treasury did not put a date on increasing spending to 3%, and had tried to force the Ministry of Defence to plan to only reach that figure in 2034/35.
Reactions
An ally of Mr Healey said the former defence secretary had been “one of the most loyal Labour men for over 30 years” and had “only ever wanted a successful Labour government”. Mr Healey is the fourth Cabinet minister to leave Sir Keir’s Government since coming to power and the second to resign over policy differences after Wes Streeting quit as health secretary last month amid the fallout from Labour’s local election losses.
His letter brought praise from Conservative MPs, with former soldiers Tom Tugendhat and Ben Obese-Jecty describing it as “principled”. Mr Tugendhat, a former defence minister, said the letter “states clearly this administration has failed”. He added: “I’ve criticised every party for the state we’re in but the truth is now clear: the complacent confidence in peace is over. We must rearm.”
