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It was just 78 days ago that John Healey resigned as defence secretary, heralding the beginning of the end of Keir Starmer’s government. In his resignation letter, he told the prime minister: ‘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.’ Healey was widely praised for doing that rare thing in politics: resigning on a real matter of substance. A month after quitting, Healey was brought back into government, becoming Andy Burnham’s Chancellor. It prompted much hope that Britain would finally hit the target of spending three per cent of GDP on defence by 2030.
A raft of difficult choices are being deferred to next year
Yet it seems that John Healey at the Treasury has different priorities to John Healey at the Ministry of Defence. Today, 39 days after Burnham made him chancellor and stood outside No. 10 promising to ‘honour our commitments on defence’, Healey has confirmed what many had previously suspected. He will not commit to spending three per cent by 2030, and will wait until next year’s spending review to set out a pathway to further defence investment. The focus in Healey’s first Budget on 28 October will be on fully funding the defence investment plan (DIP), with its £1.2 billion annual black hole. No date has yet been set for next year’s spending review, with defence spending on track to only reach 2.7 per cent of GDP by 2030.
