The latest defence spending plan "falls short" of what is needed, Healey says
British Defence Minister John Healey resigned on Thursday, criticising Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Treasury for refusing to give the armed forces the resources they need.
In his resignation letter to Starmer, shared on X, Healey said the government finalised a much-delayed Defence Investment Plan back in January but that “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 wrote that the latest version of the Defence Investment Plan he was presented with on Monday “falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time”.
“After explaining to you that I would not be able to accept a DP 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,” he concluded.
