Sir Keir Starmer’s chances of seeing off a leadership challenge are in serious doubt after defence secretary John Healey and armed forces minister Al Carns both resigned, accusing the prime minister of being “unwilling to commit the resources” needed to keep Britain safe.
In a scathing letter laying out the sorry state of UK defences, Mr Healey said funding for the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan (DIP) “falls well short of what is required”, with extra support not coming until after 2030 even though the “imperative to speed up readiness to fight is in the first two years”.
The shock resignations pile even more pressure on the prime minister as he attempts to face down threats of a Labour leadership contest.
Mr Healey’s departure was followed by the resignation of his parliamentary private secretary, MP Pamela Nash, and Mr Carns, who said the government was “failing Britain’s armed forces”.
Eyes are already on next week’s Makerfield by-election, which Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham hopes to win in order to launch a leadership challenge.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Mr Healey’s resignation showed Sir Keir’s premiership was “falling apart”, while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said his departure should act as “a wake-up call” for Sir Keir and any potential leadership challengers and urged them to “get serious about funding our armed forces properly”.
Mr Healey is the fourth cabinet minister to leave Sir Keir’s government since Labour came to power and the second to resign over policy differences after Wes Streeting quit as health secretary last month amid the fallout from Labour’s local election losses.
Yvette Cooper is among those considering her future, The Independent has been told, with Labour MPs saying the foreign secretary is “very, very unhappy” with the direction of the government, having already told Sir Keir he needs to set a timetable for his departure from No 10. But a source close to Ms Cooper denied she is preparing to resign.
Mr Healey’s resignation is also hugely embarrassing for the prime minister on the international stage, coming just days before a crucial G7 summit where he and other European leaders are set to come under pressure over defence spending from Donald Trump.
While the government has committed to spending 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2035, Mr Healey said the plan he was presented with on Monday moved too slowly, with defence spending rising to just 2.68 per cent in 2030 after hitting 2.6 per cent next year.
In his letter – which he said he “never expected to write” – Mr Healey accused Sir Keir and his chancellor Rachel Reeves of having been “unwilling to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats”.
He added that without a DIP that “meets the moment”, he was “forced to make decisions that would reduce the readiness of our forces and increase the risk to personnel on operations, and could make our country less safe”.
