John Healey has resigned as UK Defence Secretary, saying Prime Minister Keir Starmer is unable to provide the funds needed to “defend the country at this time of rising threats”.
He told Mr Starmer in his resignation letter that he was left with “no other option” after disagreement over the Defence Investment Plan, which is yet to be published.
Mr Healey said the spending proposal that he was given on Monday “falls well short” of what was required and warned that the plan “could make the country less safe”.
Mr Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves are reportedly arguing for a £15 billion package, far short of the £28 billion over the next four years that defence officials have called for. The much-delayed plan is due to be published before the Nato summit in Turkey, which begins on July 7.
Mr Healey wrote: “This new era for defence required further investment through the Defence Investment Plan. The excellent and extensive cross-government work that completed in January – overseen by you, me and the Chancellor – confirmed the scale of the challenge and the rising demands on defence.
“Since then, you have 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.”
His resignation is a significant blow to any hopes Mr Starmer held of remaining in office much longer, with the by-election that could see his key challenger Andy Burnham's return to parliament being held next Thursday.
It will also position Mr Healey not only as a defender of Britain's declining armed forces, but as someone who can openly back Mr Burnham's leadership bid and be ready to receive a senior cabinet post if the Manchester Mayor becomes prime minister.
The letter puts a charge of flawed judgment against Ms Reeves for failing to put the nation's security above other issues, increasing the chance that she would be removed from office in a Burnham government.
The UK government has committed to spending 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product on defence by 2035. However, Mr Healey said the plan he was presented with on Monday moved too slowly, with defence spending rising to only 2.68 per cent in 2030 after hitting 2.6 per cent next year.
Mr Healey is the fourth Cabinet minister to leave Mr Starmer's government and the second to resign over policy differences after Wes Streeting quit as health secretary last month in the fallout from Labour’s local election losses.
Mr Healey served in the Blair-Brown governments as well as the shadow cabinets of Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn.
His previous ministerial positions spanned multiple Whitehall departments, including housing, local government and the Treasury, and he assisted then-chancellor Gordon Brown as his parliamentary private secretary.
In opposition, the softly-spoken Yorkshireman led the shadow health and housing teams.
His three-decade-long parliamentary career has seen him back the invasion of Iraq and criticise the Tory government’s reduction in the size of the army to 72,500 by 2025.
After Labour entered Government in July 2024, Mr Healey said the state of the armed forces was “far worse than we thought” and they were not “ready to fight” a war.
Defence demands
Mr Healey's resignation letter also stated that “demands on defence have increased still further”, citing the Iran war, threats from Russia in the High North, and escalation in the Ukraine conflict.
He added: “You know what defence needs. You made the argument for this powerfully in your speech at the Munich Security Conference back in February.
“Without a DIP that meets the moment in this way, I am being forced to make decisions that would reduce the readiness of our forces and increase the risk to personnel on operations, and could make the country less safe.
“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.”
In the Commons on Wednesday, Mr Starmer was pressed on whether tax increases would be used to pay for an increase in defence spending.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: “There is still no defence investment plan … The reason that he’s dithering is because he doesn’t know where the money is coming from.
“The military is waiting, the bond markets are watching. He has only three options: cutting spending, more borrowing, or higher taxes. We know that the Chancellor wants to put up tax to pay for it. Will the Prime Minister rule out raising taxes?”
Mr Starmer accused the Conservatives of causing “damage to the armed forces” when they were in government.
Mr Healey's resignation brought praise from Conservative MPs, with former soldiers Tom Tugendhat and Ben Obese-Jecty describing it as “principled”.
Mr Tugendhat, a former security 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 re-arm.”
