{"id":633994,"date":"2026-06-12T00:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T00:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/633994\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T00:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T00:41:10","slug":"u-k-defense-secretary-resigns-saying-the-government-isnt-willing-to-spend-enough-on-the-military","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/633994\/","title":{"rendered":"U.K. defense secretary resigns, saying the government isn\u2019t willing to spend enough on the military"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONDON \u2014 U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey unexpectedly quit on Thursday, saying the government is unwilling to spend enough on the military at a time of \u201crising threats.\u201d<\/a> The resignation dealt another blow to embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer<\/a>, who is already facing demands from Labour colleagues to step down.<\/p>\n

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Healey told Starmer in a letter that the government\u2019s Defense Investment Plan falls \u201cwell short of what is required at this dangerous time<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Publication of the plan has been delayed amid reports of disagreement between the Defense Ministry and the Treasury.<\/p>\n

Healey was followed out the door several hours later by Al Carns, a decorated war veteran who served as a prominent junior minister in the defense ministry. He said he could not defend \u201ca level of investment I know to be inadequate to the task.\u201d Carns has been suggested as a possible contender in the anticipated contest to challenge Starmer\u2019s leadership<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Starmer said in a letter to Healey that he was sorry to see him go, but insisted that the funding plan would provide \u201csustainable and fair\u201d spending increases that would keep the U.K. safe.<\/p>\n

Late Thursday the prime minister appointed Dan Jarvis, formerly the security minister, to the defense secretary post.<\/p>\n

Critics say too little, too late<\/p>\n

Starmer has pledged to boost U.K. defense spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product by 2027 and 3% by 2035. But many in the military say that isn\u2019t fast enough<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou 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,\u201d Healey wrote in his resignation letter.<\/p>\n

He said that the spending plan put forward by the Treasury, and presented to him on Monday, would see defense spending rise to just 2.68% in 2030, after hitting 2.6% next year.<\/p>\n

Healey said that isn\u2019t enough with growing demands on defense and British military commitments<\/a>, citing the Iran war, Russia\u2019s all-out invasion of Ukraine and threats from Moscow.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am now left with no other option than to submit my resignation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gen. Richard Barrons, who helped lead a defense review that underpins the investment plan, said the government is \u201cactively going backwards\u201d by refusing to fund its own review.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt diminishes the U.K.\u2019s standing within NATO, weakens our credibility with allies, and increases our vulnerability to the realities of 21st-century conflict,\u201d he said. \u201cAllies and adversaries<\/a> alike will be paying attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

The government said that it was delivering \u201cthe largest sustained boost to defense spending since the Cold War.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis country is safer because of the decisions Keir Starmer has made and we will continue to act in our national interest<\/a>,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Healey is considered a safe pair of hands<\/p>\n

Healey has been U.K. defense secretary since the Labour Party government was elected in July 2024, and he\u2019s regarded as a capable and serious minister.<\/p>\n

He has played a key role in bolstering international support for Ukraine and assembling a multinational coalition to help guarantee security if a ceasefire is reached. Healey also has helped spearhead a maritime security force<\/a> that would help keep the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping if the Iran war ends.<\/p>\n

The United Kingdom and other NATO member nations have faced pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to increase military spending. Trump has long questioned the value of the military alliance and complained that the United States provides security to European countries that don\u2019t pull their weight.<\/p>\n

The U.K. military is also seeking to reverse years of decline in the face of an increasingly assertive Russia<\/a>, which fully invaded its neighbor Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, and increasingly tests the defenses of European nations with overt and covert activity.<\/p>\n

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, informed of Healey\u2019s resignation by The Associated Press during a news conference in Brussels, said that Healey is someone \u201cI respect very much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are seeing all over the alliance is countries increasing their defense investments, and of course it is not easy, because in the end there is always a trade-off with other expenses<\/a>, which are also important,\u201d Rutte said.<\/p>\n

Healey\u2019s resignation is likely to further stoke talk that Starmer\u2019s days as prime minister are numbered. Already bruised by a series of missteps since Labour returned to power less than two years ago, Starmer has faced calls within his party\u2019s ranks to stand down.<\/p>\n

In a sign of his waning authority, Starmer appears to have been unable to bridge the gap between Healey\u2019s department and Treasury chief Rachel Reeves over defense spending.<\/p>\n

Olivia O\u2019Sullivan, head of the U.K. in the World program at the Chatham House think tank, said the resignation \u201csignificantly undermines Starmer<\/a>,\u201d especially since the prime minister has had \u201ca relatively assured track record on defense and foreign affairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is widely expected to challenge Starmer for the leadership, if he returns to Parliament in a June 18 special election.<\/p>\n

Justin Crump, a former British tank commander<\/a> who heads security consultancy Sibylline, said that Healey\u2019s resignation \u201cshould not have been allowed to occur in a well-run government.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just further underlines a lack of control here, a lack of clarity, a lack of resolution, a gap between words and delivery,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON \u2014 U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey unexpectedly quit on Thursday, saying the government is unwilling to spend…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-633994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}