Rachel Reeves’s prospects of remaining as Chancellor under a change of Prime Minister have been dealt a “fatal blow” following the resignation of John Healey, senior government insiders believe.
The former defence secretary laid the blame for his decision to quit on Thursday squarely at the door of the Treasury, which he said was “unwilling” to meet the level of defence spending he believes is needed over the next ten years.
He was followed out of the Ministry of Defence by Al Carns, who warned the funding plan did not have enough money behind it and was not “transformational” in the way it responds to the challenges of modern warfare.
Shorts
The row comes amid warnings by leading military figures, and the Prime Minister himself, that the UK needs to do more to prepare for war as the world becomes more unstable and unpredictable.
