Undersecretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby called for the United Kingdom to increase its military strength a day after British Defense Secretary John Healey resigned from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government.Colby weighed in on his resignation on Friday morning, saying on social media, “The United Kingdom has an extraordinarily proud military history. It commands our respect. There is again a great need for more British military strength in this critical time. We urge the UK to meet that need with urgency, scale, and determination.”He also referenced his speech at the international ceremony commemorating the 82nd anniversary of the World War II Allied Invasion at Normandy, where he highlighted the U.K. and Canadian forces’ “courage, tenacity, dedication, daring, and loyalty” at Langrune-sur-Mer “that won them the lasting admiration and gratitude of the whole world.”
Healey resigned on Thursday, citing the government’s recent defense industrial plan, which he argued in his resignation letter did not “commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats.”
“You DIP financial settlement — which I was first given in full on Monday afternoon this week — falls well short of what is required for defense and the country at this dangerous time,” he wrote, later adding, “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.”
