The United Kingdom’s (UK) defence minister John Healey quit on Thursday over a months-long dispute over military spending, accusing Prime Minister Keir Starmer of failing to commit the resources that are needed to keep the country safe from mounting threats.
The resignation, accompanied by a scathing critique of the prime minister, is another indication that Starmer’s authority is draining away and exposes a crisis at the heart of the government – how it can ramp up defence spending when there is little money to spare and the welfare budget keeps rising.
Additional Military Spending
Healey, a previously loyal minister, had been locked in talks with Starmer and finance minister Rachel Reeves over how to meet the additional military spending needed, delaying Britain ‘s Defence Investment Plan, which was due last year.
“You have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country,” Healey said in his letter to Starmer.
Starmer responded with a letter expressing regret at Healey’s resignation and by appointing the security minister, Dan Jarvis, as defence secretary.
But around the same time as that appointment, a junior UK defence minister, Al Carns, also quit, saying the spending plans were “not built for the threat we face.”
Pressure On Starmer
The unexpected resignations are another blow to Starmer, who is likely to face a challenge to his leadership in the coming months.
Starmer’s health minister, Wes Streeting, resigned last month, accusing the prime minister of lacking a vision, and another challenger, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, is attempting to return to frontline politics to launch a leadership bid.
Britain, historically a great military power, was left exposed in March when it was unable to immediately deploy an advanced warship to Cyprus after its air base there was hit by an Iranian-made drone.
Third-Biggest NATO Spender
Already contending with the U.S.pivot away from protecting Europe, Britain is now the third-biggest spender in NATO, having been overtaken by Germany in 2024, and the investment plan was aimed at bringing the armed forces to a state of “warfighting readiness.”
Starmer has pledged the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War, aiming to lift it to 3% of national output in the next parliament, meaning tens of billions of pounds of additional money for defence.
But Healey said the plan he had seen would increase defence spending to only 2.68% in 2030, when it will already reach 2.6% next year.
That compares to Germany’s plans to spend 3.7% of its GDP on defence by 2030. France is set to be lower than Britain at 2.5%.
(with inputs from Reuters)
