Starmer in fresh crisis as Healey quits government with scathing attack on PM’s plan to protect Britain

Sir Keir Starmer’s government has been plunged into a new crisis after John Healey dramatically resigned as defense minister, accusing the prime minister of being “unwilling to commit the resources the nation needs”.

In his scathing letter describing the sorry state of Britain’s defence, he said funding for the long-delayed Defense Investment Plan (Dip) “remains well below what is required” and that extra support would come after 2030 “where the imperative to step up war readiness is in the first two years”.

His shock resignation came as the Cabinet squabbled over the plan setting out how new equipment and defense infrastructure would be financed over the next decade, further weakening the prime minister’s already precarious position.

He is the fourth cabinet minister to leave Sir Keir’s government since Labor came to power and the second to resign over policy differences, after Wes Streeting quit as health secretary last month amid fallout from Labor’s local election losses.

The intervention of a formerly staunch loyalist puts even more pressure on the prime minister as he struggles to confront leadership contest threats. All eyes are already on next week’s Makerfield by-election, which Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham hopes to win before launching a challenge.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Mr Healey’s resignation showed Sir Keir’s premiership was “collapsing”, while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said his departure should be a “wake-up call” for Sir Keir and potential leadership challengers urging them to “get serious about properly funding our armed forces”.

Mr Healey’s resignation is also deeply embarrassing for the prime minister on the international stage; It comes just days before a crucial G7 summit where he and other European leaders will face pressure from Donald Trump on defense spending.

Although the government has committed to spending 3.5 per cent of GDP on defense by 2035, Mr Healey said the plan presented to him on Monday was progressing too slowly, with defense spending rising to just 2.68 per cent in 2030 after reaching 2.6 per cent next year.

In a damning resignation letter that he said he “never expected to write”, Mr Healey accused Sir Keir and Chancellor Rachel Reeves of being “unwilling to commit the resources the nation needs to defend the country at this time of increasing threats”.

Without a Drop that “seizes the moment,” he added, “we will be forced to make decisions that will reduce the readiness of our forces, increase the risk to personnel in operations, and make our country less safe.”

Sources said the government wanted to publish the plan on Thursday, but military chiefs said a £13.5bn increase would not be enough to fund the transformation the armed forces need.

They added that the deal proposed by the Treasury did not set a date for the increase in spending to 3 per cent and that they were trying to force the Ministry of Defense (MoD) to plan to reach this figure only in 2034/35.

“Having made it clear to you that I cannot accept a Dip deal that does not provide our forces with the resources they need, I now have no choice but to tender my resignation as your defense minister,” Mr Healey wrote.

Armed Forces Minister Al Carns, who could be a candidate to replace Mr Healey, told Times Radio after his resignation that Dip was “not fit for purpose” and added that Sir Keir “must sort this out”.

Mr Healey’s letter was praised by Conservative MPs, with veterans Tom Tugendhat and Ben Obese-Jecty describing it as “principled”.

Mr Tugendhat, the former defense minister, said the letter “makes it clear that this administration has failed”. He added: “I have criticized every party for the situation we are in, but the truth is now clear: complacent confidence in peace is over. We must rearm.”

Labor MP and defense committee chairman Tan Dhesi, remembering Mr Healey as a “serious, dedicated and respected defense minister”, said his resignation was a “serious moment” and a warning that the government must treat “with the utmost seriousness”.

He said: “The defense committee was clear that defense investment must be accelerated to reach 3 per cent of GDP by the end of parliament and that the Defense Investment Plan cannot be further delayed or used to hide difficult choices.”

Mr Healey’s decision to step down came after military officials warned that the gap in Britain’s defenses meant the country would not be able to protect itself; Former Labor defense minister George Robertson, appointed by the Prime Minister to write the government’s Strategic Defense Review (SDR), claimed earlier this year that Sir Keir did not want to “make the necessary investment” in Britain’s defence.

He accused “non-military experts” in the Treasury of “vandalism”, arguing that Britain is “underprepared” and “underinsured” in the face of global threats.

Real-term defense spending fell by 22 per cent between 2009/10 and 2016/17, from £59.2 billion to £46.2 billion in 2024/25 prices. While real-term spending has risen steadily since 2016/17, the seven-year decline between 2009 and 2017 has contributed to a serious gap in the military, with the decline in budgets meaning a steady decline in the capabilities of the Armed Forces.