Defence Secretary John Healey quit Thursday, citing disagreement with Prime Minister Keir Starmer over military funding levels amid rising global threats.
2:02 PM
Britain's Defence Secretary John Healey resigned Thursday over a dispute with Prime Minister Keir Starmer regarding defence spending, announcing his departure in a letter posted on social media.
In the letter addressed to Starmer, Healey said the prime minister had been "unable" and the Treasury "unwilling" to commit the resources necessary to defend the country during a period of escalating threats. He stated that a financial settlement received Monday for the Defence Investment Plan "falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time."
The Defence Investment Plan, delayed since last year, outlines how new military equipment and defence infrastructure will be funded over the coming decade following a review of military capabilities conducted last year. Healey and the defence and finance ministries had been engaged in months of negotiations over how to address rising demands for expanded military spending.
According to Healey's letter, the settlement allocated defence spending to 2.68 percent of gross domestic product. He cited increased demands on defence since January stemming from the conflict in the Middle East and new British commitments in the Arctic and Ukraine as reasons the current funding level was insufficient.
In his resignation letter, Healey noted accomplishments during his tenure under the Labour Government, including raising defence investment to 2.5 percent of GDP three years ahead of schedule, launching what he described as the deepest defence reforms in 50 years, securing major UK defence export deals, publishing a Strategic Defence Review, and providing the Armed Forces with their largest pay rise in nearly 20 years.
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