Keir Starmer Insists Government Spends Adequately On Defence

Keir Starmer has hit back at John Healey by insisting the government’s spending plans will provide enough cash for the UK’s armed forces.

The prime minister said he was “sorry” that Healey had resigned as defence secretary and rejected his reasons for doing so.

Healey stunned Westminster on Thursday morning by unexpectedly announcing he was quitting the cabinet in protest at the amount of money No.10 and the Treasury were making available in the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan (DIP).

In a blistering letter to the prime minister, he said he had been left with “no other option” after learning that defence spending will go up from 2.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) next year to just 2.68% in 2030.

It is understood that amounted to an extra £13.5 billion, less than half of the £28bn army chiefs said they needed.

Healey said the funding settlement would force him “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”.

But in his reply, Starmer said he was “proud of our record on funding”.

He said: “When we entered government in 2024, I took the decision to increase defence spending after the Conservatives hollowed out our armed forces.

“That required a cut to the international aid budget but the result was the highest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War. I will always do what is needed to keep our country safe.

“I thank you for your work to deliver on all of this. You are also right that we have to go further. The Defence Investment Plan does just that— delivering an unprecedented increase in defence spending in a sustainable way.”

“It will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe and the clarity the British defence industry needs to plan. It will make the big strategic investments we need for the long term and give the certainty which private finance needs to invest.

“It will allow our armed forces to transform and modernise and back them with the tools they need to change the way we fight – and to deter our enemies.”

The PM added: “Taking these decisions is never easy I am determined to rebuild our country after years of being buffeted by crises.

“I am sorry that you will not be part of that work going forward.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said his resignation showed Starmer’s “premiership is falling apart”.

She said: “His health secretary resigned two weeks ago. His defence secretary has resigned at a critical time when we are facing global threats, and he is doing so because the prime minister is trying to please his backbenchers by putting money into welfare instead of defence.”

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