‘I was with Pat McFadden when the Defence Secretary resigned’

The event is for the DWP Secretary Pat McFadden to learn how the Dutch tackle the NEETS crisis, an announcement set to be overshadowed before it’s even happened

In a youth hub in the Netherlands, students are enjoying salmon rillet, and duck in apple sauce.

The event is for the DWP Secretary Pat McFadden to learn how the Dutch tackle the NEETS crisis, an announcement set to be overshadowed before it’s even happened, because the Defence Secretary John Healey has resigned.

There are cheers while Mr McFadden pulls a pint, after a member of staff shows him how, not knowing within minutes Britain will have lost the man responsible for defence, as war rages on in Ukraine and Iran.

Mr McFadden pours. The DWP minister is here to announce almost 180 new youth hubs and discuss the benefits of vocational training, on a trip that will almost certainly fail to register with voters as Keir Starmer ’s Government struggles to stay afloat.

At the time Mr Healey is accusing the PM of being unable and the Treasury unwilling to commit the resources the nation needs, his cabinet colleague is being briefed by officials for his interview with journalists, expecting questions on NEETs, welfare, and the prospects of Andy Burnham.

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Instead, he faces questions over the PM’s leadership, with Mr Starmer suffering another resignation just weeks after Wes Streeting quit as Health Secretary.

The news breaks while journalists wait in the main room. “John Healey has resigned”, a political journalist announces. As three hacks glue themselves to their phones, another, coming back with a chocolate mousse in an edible plant pot asks what has happened. “The Defence Secretary has resigned”, they repeat, a comment which sparks a nearby civil servant to sprint away from us, realising the minister will now be facing very different questions.

Arriving in the room, the minister jokes about the big issue he wants to talk about. “I think my pint was poured better than his”. He tells hacks he’s not seen the letter, praises Mr Healey, but disputes his suggestion that Mr Starmer isn’t able to boost defence.

Mr McFadden had arrived in the Netherlands to discuss the response to a crisis. As he returns to Britain, the Government faces yet another.