UK Defence Secretary John Healey resigned from his position on Thursday, citing the government's unwillingness to increase defence spending at a time of rising threats. In his resignation letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Healey expressed that the prime minister has 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.”
According to Healey, it was the prime minister who recently informed him of the intelligence assessment regarding Russia's potential attack on NATO by 2030. Yet, the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) was not up to the standard required to counter the threat. “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,” he wrote.
Starmer has pledged to boost UK defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product by 2027 and 3% by 2034, but this is not being seen as fast enough. The letter noted that the UK's demands on defence have increased significantly. It now leads the multinational Strait of Hormuz military mission in the Middle East and NATO's Sentry mission in the Arctic. With Russia's increased attacks in Ukraine, the trilateral 'Paris agreement' of January 6 has come back into focus, under which Britain has to deploy troops in Ukraine once a peace deal with Russia is achieved.
Healey had been the defence secretary ever since Starmer's Labour Party came to power in 2024. He is regarded as a capable minister. In his letter, he appreciated the prime minister's efforts, noting that his tenure brought the biggest defence reforms in 50 years, raised defence investments to 2.5% of GDP three years ahead of expectations, signed major defence agreements with Germany, Norway, and France, and secured the biggest UK defence export deals for decades.
According to the Associated Press, the resignation is another blow to the British prime minister, who is already facing resignation demands from Labour colleagues. Despite his resignation, Healey has assured “full support” to the Labour government.
