​John Healey resigns as defence secretary over military spending

[muriel_volestrangler]

The defence secretary, John Healey, has resigned over the government’s defence spending plans.

The long-awaited defence investment plan (DIP) was expected to be published imminently, but in a letter to the prime minister, Keir Starmer, Healey said it fell “well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time”.

In his resignation letter, Healey wrote that the need for further investment in defence was clear and that work on how much it would cost had been completed in January.

He wrote: “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.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/11/john-healey-resigns-defence-secretary-military-spending

The surprise in John Healey’s resignation is that he never looked like a quitter. He has always been a loyal minister and Labour Party man.

Unlike other recent defence secretaries, he studiously avoided briefing against other ministers or the Treasury. When he met journalists he frustratingly hid his own frustrations.

He mostly said the same in private as he did in public. But the government’s failure to move as fast as other European nations, or as fast as he had promised, has clearly taken its toll.

The government’s claim to be a leading member of the Nato alliance sounded increasingly hollow – with the UK dropping from the fourth largest spender to 14th with five years.

Allies were asking when the UK’s words would be matched by actions. Defence industry were asking the same questions too.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cgqeg09p3p1t?post=asset%3A05e015bc-b04c-4a51-be9b-b8901be33914#post

I think our problem really is that we can't afford to be a G7 nation anymore (a position the Italians have been in for some years too, I reckon).