Sir Ben Wallace has accused Rachel Reeves of “ignoring warnings” from military chiefs as he slammed Labour for being “more interested in benefits and net zero than defence of the realm”. The former Conservative defence secretary launched a stunning broadside against the “busted flush” Labour government following the resignation of John Healey on Thursday.
Healey's resignation shocks Westminster
Mr Healey said he was left with “no other option” but to quit as Defence Secretary over a deepening military funding row. The stepping down of Mr Healey, who is among Labour’s most respected figures, was a hammer blow to Sir Keir Starmer. Matters were made worse for the under-pressure Prime Minister when Armed Forces Minister Al Carns also resigned hours later.
Sir Ben said he warned Mr Healey when he was in opposition of “how the Treasury behaved”. In an op-ed for The Telegraph, Sir Ben wrote: “It takes a special type of arrogance to ignore warnings from past and present intelligence chiefs, military leaders and defence secretaries. But Rachel Reeves and the Treasury evidently possess it in spades.”
Treasury accused of 'slow-walking' defence funding
Sir Ben accused the Treasury of deploying “the full range of tricks against the Ministry of Defence” and accused Downing Street of making promises “without backing any of them with any new funding”, while the Chancellor “piled unfunded costs onto a department already struggling”. He wrote that NATO allies have been left “saddened” as the UK slips down the alliance’s spending rankings.
“Our leadership is a busted flush and friends and allies alike sneer at our lectures to foreign powers. We have become the Hyacinth Bucket of NATO: keeping up appearances,” Sir Ben wrote in his scathing piece. He added: “None of this needed to happen and all of it has been self-inflicted by this Labour Government. It is a government that has prioritised benefits over our security. A government that has conducted defence by press release.”
Sir Keir hit back after Mr Healey accused the Prime Minister of failing to properly fund defence in his resignation letter. The PM argued the much-delayed Defence Investment Plan (DIP) is backed “by the necessary investment” and “will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe”.
Mr Healey said the financial settlement for the DIP, which he received on Monday afternoon, “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”. In his resignation letter, he said Sir Keir had been “unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling”, to provide adequate funding for the 10-year investment plan. Mr Carns told the Prime Minister he was stepping down because he could not defend “a level of investment I know to be inadequate to the task”.
Dan Jarvis, a former Parachute Regiment officer, was appointed Mr Healey’s successor late on Thursday.
