Defence Secretary John Healey resigns over argument about Defence Investment Plan
The Defence Secretary has resigned
John Healey has resigned as Defence Secretary.
He has told the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in a letter that he was left with “no other option” after disagreement over the Defence Investment Plan.
The plan has been in the works for months, and is rumoured to be close to being published.
John Healey said the Defence Investment Plan, as proposed by Sir Keir Starmer, “could make the country less safe”.
The resigning defence secretary wrote to 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.
“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 his resignation letter, Mr Healey criticised Sir Keir Starmer’s unwillingness to commit enough resources to defence.
He 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.”
He said that “demands on defence have increased still further”, pointing to the Iran war, threats from Russia in the High North, and escalation in the Ukraine conflict.
John Healey said the proposal for spending in the Defence Investment Plan that he was given on Monday “falls well short” of what is required.
He said he had outlined that there are “credible ways” to meet funding challenges in his resignation letter to Sir Keir Starmer as Defence Secretary.
“However, your DIP financial settlement – which I was first given in full on Monday afternoon this week – falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time. The extra support is backloaded when the pressure of operations and imperative to speed up readiness to fight is in the first two years and it rises to just 2.68% of GDP in 2030, when we will reach 2.6% next year with the investment we are already making.”