UK defence secretary quits over military spending dispute

Britain’s defence secretary John Healey resigned Thursday after accusing Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Treasury of failing to fund the country’s defence needs, deepening a political crisis for a government already weakened by ministerial departures and internal pressure.

In a letter to Starmer posted on X, Healey said he could not accept a financial settlement for defence that he received Monday. “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,” he wrote.

Healey said the proposed settlement “falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time.” He said it would raise defence spending only to 2.68% of gross domestic product in 2030, when he argued a firm 3% target by that year was essential.

The resignation came as the government’s long-delayed Defence Investment Plan had been expected in Westminster, the BBC reported. The plan has been held up by months of talks between the defence and finance ministries over how to pay for higher military spending. The delay has also frustrated Britain’s defence industry, which says it cannot commit to long-term programmes amid geopolitical volatility, according to Al Jazeera.

Healey used Starmer’s own warnings to make his case. He wrote that “there could be an attack by Russia on Nato as soon as 2030” and told the prime minister: “You know what defence needs. You made the argument for this powerfully in your speech at the Munich Security Conference back in February.”

He said inadequate funding was already forcing difficult choices. “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,” Healey wrote.

Al Jazeera reported that Britain is managing a broad set of military commitments, including leading a multinational Strait of Hormuz mission amid the conflict with Iran, heading NATO’s Arctic Sentry mission in the High North, and responding to increased Russian activity toward the UK and NATO allies alongside escalating attacks in Ukraine.

Healey is the sixth government minister to resign since Labour’s poor showing in last month’s elections, and the fourth full cabinet minister to leave Starmer’s government after Louise Haigh, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting, the BBC reported. Streeting resigned as health secretary on May 14, saying Starmer would not lead Labour into the next general election and criticising the government’s “drift” and lack of “vision,” according to Al Jazeera.

The departure comes one week before Healey had been due to attend a NATO defence ministers meeting in Brussels, and one week before the Makerfield by-election, where the BBC reported Andy Burnham could return to Parliament and challenge the prime minister.

Starmer is facing wider pressure inside his party. At least 95 Labour MPs had already called on him to resign or set out a departure timetable by mid-May, Al Jazeera reported. The outlet also reported that Starmer has faced questions over his judgment after revelations that Peter Mandelson, whom he appointed as ambassador to the United States, had close ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Al Jazeera correspondent Camille Nedelec, reporting from London, called Healey’s resignation “the latest in a string of high-profile resignations that have beset the Starmer government” and “yet another blow for the Starmer premiership.” She said Healey, a long-serving and respected politician, had opened “a new frontier of criticism” of Starmer and added that the move raised questions about whether Healey could be preparing his own leadership bid.

Starmer now has to appoint a new defence secretary while the Defence Investment Plan remains unresolved.