John Healey resigns as defence secretary over spending plan

John Healey has resigned as defence secretary, saying the UK’s defence investment plan falls short at a dangerous time for the country.

John Healey has resigned as defence secretary, warning in a letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer that the government’s defence investment plan does not provide the resources he believes the UK needs.

Healey said the plan “falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time,” setting out a dispute over the scale and timing of military investment as the UK faces rising commitments to allies and ongoing security pressures.

The resignation is a significant break inside Starmer’s government over defence funding. Healey wrote that he had not expected to submit the letter and did so with “great regret and reluctance,” while saying he remained supportive of the Labour government.

In the letter, Healey pointed to what he described as achievements under Labour, including increased support for Ukraine, a stronger role for Britain in NATO, defence investment raised to 2.5% of GDP, major defence reforms, new defence agreements with European allies and improvements for service personnel and forces families.

But he said the Strategic Defence Review had made clear that a “new era of threat” required a new level of investment. Healey argued that the government’s Defence Investment Plan should both meet immediate operational pressures and set a path toward a new NATO commitment of spending 3.5% of GDP on defence by 2035.

Healey wrote that he believed Britain should set a target of 3% of GDP for defence by 2030, saying such a move would have broad political backing and would align the UK with other European allies increasing spending.

He said the settlement he received in full on Monday afternoon was weighted too heavily toward later years, even though the pressure on operations and readiness was most acute in the next two years. According to the letter, the plan would rise to 2.68% of GDP in 2030, after reaching 2.6% next year through investment already being made.

Healey also cited Starmer’s recent warning that intelligence assessments by the UK and other NATO countries indicated Russia could attack NATO as soon as 2030. Without a stronger plan, he wrote, he would be forced to make decisions that could reduce military readiness, increase risk to personnel on operations and “could make the country less safe.”

He concluded that, after telling Starmer he could not accept a settlement that failed to give the armed forces the resources they need, he had “no other option” but to resign as defence secretary.