On 11 June 2026, Defence Secretary John Healey and Armed Forces Minister Al Carns resigned from the UK government in protest over a long-delayed military spending plan known as the Defence Investment Plan (DIP). The resignations, described by one Labour MP as a "massive body blow", have thrown Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's premiership into crisis and raised urgent questions about how Britain funds its armed forces.
The Defence Investment Plan is a government blueprint that sets out how new equipment and defence infrastructure will be funded over the next decade. It was originally called for by the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), which was published almost exactly a year earlier. The SDR identified rising military needs and set a ten-year vision to transform the armed forces. The DIP was supposed to provide the financial roadmap to implement that vision, but its publication has been repeatedly delayed due to wrangling between the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Number 10, and the Treasury over funding levels.
“Explains the UK Defence Investment Plan row that led to ministerial resignations.”
The row centres on how much extra money the MoD should receive. Sources indicate the Treasury was prepared to announce a £13.5 billion funding increase over four years, but the MoD had requested an additional £28 billion over the same period just to "stand still". In his resignation letter, Healey said the financial settlement he received on Monday (8 June) "falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time". He also criticised the plan for being "backloaded", with extra support only coming after 2030, while the "pressure of operations and imperative to speed up readiness to fight is in the first two years".
Healey explicitly blamed the Prime Minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves, writing: "You have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats." Carns, a former Royal Marine and Military Cross recipient, echoed that sentiment, saying the DIP was "neither transformative enough nor sufficiently funded" and that he could not "defend a level of investment I know to be inadequate to the task".
For UK readers, this matters because defence spending affects national security directly. The UK currently spends about £66 billion a year on defence, roughly half what it spends on debt interest and a fraction of the £333 billion annual welfare bill. The government has committed to raising defence spending from 2.3% of GDP to 2.5% by 2027, and eventually to 3% by the mid-2030s, but critics argue the interim funding is insufficient given growing threats from Russia, instability in the Middle East, and new commitments in Ukraine and the Arctic. Healey warned that without adequate funding, he would be forced to "reduce the readiness of our Forces and increase the risk to personnel on operations, and could make our country less safe".
The crisis also has political consequences. Healey was one of Starmer's most loyal cabinet allies, and his resignation – alongside Carns and two parliamentary aides – has severely weakened the Prime Minister's authority. It comes ahead of a crucial by-election in Makerfield, where Labour candidate Andy Burnham is hoping to return to Westminster and mount a leadership challenge. The resignations have fuelled speculation that Starmer's position is in jeopardy, with multiple Labour MPs already publicly declaring they have lost confidence in him.
## Key questions answered
Q: Why did the Defence Secretary resign? John Healey resigned because he said the Defence Investment Plan funding settlement was too low and backloaded, forcing him to make decisions that could reduce military readiness and make the UK less safe. He accused the Prime Minister and Treasury of being unwilling to commit the necessary resources.
Q: What is the Defence Investment Plan? The Defence Investment Plan (DIP) is a government strategy that outlines how new military equipment and infrastructure will be funded over the next decade. It was meant to implement the recommendations of the Strategic Defence Review but has been delayed due to disagreements over how much extra money to provide.
Q: How much more money does the Ministry of Defence say it needs? The MoD reportedly requested an extra £28 billion over four years simply to maintain current capabilities. The Treasury was reportedly offering £13.5 billion over four years, which the outgoing defence secretary said was not enough.
## What happens next
Dan Jarvis, the security minister and a former British Army officer, has been appointed as the new Defence Secretary. He faces the immediate challenge of finalising the Defence Investment Plan ahead of a NATO summit in Turkey next month, which Starmer had set as the deadline for announcing the blueprint. The resignations have also intensified pressure on Starmer to either change his approach or face a leadership contest. Meanwhile, the armed forces continue to operate under existing funding, with decisions on future capability likely to be affected by the ongoing political uncertainty.