John Healey resigned as defence secretary on Thursday, his letter accusing Keir Starmer of being “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”. The resignation – triggered by a dispute over the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan – has pitched the government into a defence-policy crisis weeks before a key Nato summit in Ankara.
The plan, which has yet to be published, was supposed to show how new equipment and infrastructure would be funded over the coming decade. Healey said the version he saw on Monday would lift spending from an estimated 2.4% of GDP last year to only 2.68% by 2030 – far short of the 3.5% target Nato allies agreed last year for 2035. “The plan falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time,” he wrote, adding that he was “left with no other option” but to resign.
“John Healey resigns as defence secretary over a spending plan that would only reach 2.68% of GDP by 2030”
Starmer, who himself has an “ambition” to reach 3% of GDP in the next parliament, quickly named Dan Jarvis as the new defence secretary. But the prime minister is already facing a growing rebellion within his own Labour party, and the military chief has written to him warning that an offer of around £13bn extra is not enough, sources said.
The crisis comes as the UK’s armed forces have shrunk dramatically since the end of the Cold War. The army now has 73,790 regular soldiers, down from 153,000 in 1990, and applications to enlist fell by 40% in 2025 compared with the previous year. The Royal Navy’s fleet of destroyers and frigates has dropped from 48 major combat ships to just 13, and the RAF now operates 107 Typhoons and at least 37 F-35s – far fewer than the 300-plus jets it had in 1990, though the newer models are technologically superior. Drone warfare, which did not exist then, now kills more people than traditional artillery in Ukraine, analysts note, but the UK has not invested enough in this area.
A Treasury official framed the spending row bluntly: “Let’s be clear on what John is asking for: cuts to schools and hospitals.” With the Nato summit less than a month away, Starmer must now show allies – including US President Donald Trump, who is demanding higher contributions – that Britain can match the rearmament strides of Germany and Poland. The government has promised “the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War”, but critics point out that is a low bar after decades of cuts.