politics
UK Defence Secretary John Healey Resigns, Citing Shortfall Despite Earlier Funding Pledge and Reforms
John Healey stepped down after warning that the government's defence spending plan would reduce readiness and increase risks to personnel. He cited the prime minister's inability to commit the resources needed amid rising threats.
The IndependentAudio version
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John Healey resigned as defence secretary, stating that the current defence spending allocation “falls well short of what is required” to safeguard Britain’s security. ” Healey had served as defence secretary since Keir Starmer became Labour leader in 2020, first in the shadow cabinet and then retaining the post after Labour’s 2024 general election victory.
” His parliamentary career spans three decades and includes ministerial roles in housing, local government and the Treasury, as well as service as parliamentary private secretary to Gordon Brown.
Healey criticised the previous Conservative government’s plan to reduce the army to 72,500 by 2025. After Labour entered government in July 2024, he stated that the state of the armed forces was “far worse than we thought” and they were not “ready to fight” a war. In January the UK’s top military chief warned of a £28 billion defence budget shortfall.
Healey’s resignation followed Starmer’s failure to address the shortfall. 5% of GDP three years earlier than expected, launching the deepest defence reforms in 50 years, winning the biggest UK defence export deals for decades, publishing a first-of-its-kind Strategic Defence Review, giving the Armed Forces the biggest pay rise in nearly 20 years, boosting military morale, fixing over 1,200 of the worst forces family homes, resetting relations with European allies, and signing major defence agreements with Germany, Norway and France.
” Healey has represented a South Yorkshire constituency since entering Parliament in 1997; after boundary changes the seat is now Rawmarsh and Conisbrough.
Born in Wakefield in 1960, he was educated at Lady Lumley’s Comprehensive School, Pickering, and Peter’s School in York, then studied social and political science at Christ’s College, Cambridge. Before becoming an MP he campaigned for disability rights with organisations including the mental health charity Mind, worked in PR, joined the Manufacturing, Science and Finance union in communications, and later served as campaigns director for the TUC.
