John Healey has resigned as defence secretary, accusing the Prime Minister of failing to adequately fund a crucial defence plan, despite Sir Keir Starmer’s insistence that the scheme “will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe”.
Mr Healey tendered his resignation on Thursday afternoon, stating that the Prime Minister had been “unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling”, to provide sufficient funding for the Defence Investment Plan (Dip).
The Dip, initially proposed by the Strategic Defence Review almost a year ago, has faced significant delays due to ongoing disputes over its financial backing.
Responding to the senior Labour figure’s departure, Sir Keir acknowledged in his own letter that the Government must “go further” on increasing defence funding. However, he maintained: “The Defence Investment Plan does just that, delivering an unprecedented increase in defence spending in a sustainable way.”
He further elaborated: “It will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe and the clarity the British defence industry needs to plan. It will make the big strategic investments we need for the long term and give the certainty which private finance needs to invest.
“It will allow our armed forces to transform and modernise and back them with the tools they need to change the way we fight — and to deter our enemies.”
Sir Keir concluded his defence of the plan by stating it would “crucially… ensure the money spent is spent wisely and used to back jobs and growth here in Britain.” He affirmed that the plan is supported by “the necessary investment” and that underpinning spending increases would be “sustainable and fair”.
The Prime Minister, in turn, warned that additional defence spending “will mean significant reallocations of funding from across Government departments.”
Sir Keir concluded his letter to Mr Healey by saying: “Taking these decisions is never easy. I am determined to rebuild our country after years of being buffeted by crises. I am sorry that you will not be part of that work going forward.”
Mr Healey revealed he had received a financial settlement for the Dip on Monday afternoon which “falls well short of what is required”. He highlighted that extra support was scheduled to arrive after 2030, despite 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.”
Sources indicated the Government had intended to publish the Dip on Thursday, but with a £13.5 billion uplift that military chiefs deemed insufficient for the armed forces’ necessary transformation.
While the Government has pledged to allocate 3.5% of GDP to defence by 2035, Mr Healey criticised the presented plan for its slow progression, with defence spending projected to rise to only 2.68% by 2030, after reaching 2.6% next year.
He warned that without a Dip that “meets the moment”, he would be “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 also noted that the Treasury’s proposed deal did not specify a date for increasing spending to 3%, and had attempted to compel the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to plan for reaching that figure only by 2034/35.
An ally of Mr Healey described the former defence secretary as “one of the most loyal Labour men for over 30 years” who had “only ever wanted a successful Labour government.”
