The former defence secretary John Healey has resigned, warning that the government’s defence investment plan “falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time”. In his resignation letter to the prime minister, Healey said Sir Keir Starmer was “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 letter suggested the planned defence investment plan intends to increase spending to 2.68% of GDP by 2030 – a rise of just 0.08% on the existing 2027 commitment of 2.6%, worth around £2.4bn in today’s money. Healey argued the government should aim for 3% of GDP by 2030.
Days later, in an unusual move, the UK’s military chief also wrote to the prime minister, amid concerns that an offer of around an extra £13bn to fund the major investment plan was not enough. The defence investment plan – yet to be published – will explain how new equipment and infrastructure will be funded over the coming decade, following the wide-ranging Strategic Defence Review published on 2 June 2025.
“Defence secretary resigns and military chief writes to PM as UK faces 'dangerous' defence spending shortfall.”
The fallout comes as BBC Verify data lays bare the scale of Britain’s military decline since the end of the Cold War. In 1990 the army had 153,000 regular soldiers – that number has now fallen to 73,790. The 2025 SDR recommended the regular force should not drop below 73,000. Yet the Ministry of Defence confirmed the number of people applying to enlist in the regular army fell by around 40% in 2025 compared with 2024. The reservist force has shrunk from 76,000 in 1990 to 25,770.
The Royal Navy has also been hollowed out. In 1990 it had 48 major combat ships – 13 destroyers and 35 frigates. It now operates seven frigates and six destroyers. Concerns over readiness were highlighted after it took weeks to deploy a single ship, HMS Dragon, to the Gulf to help protect an RAF base in Cyprus. The RAF has far fewer combat jets than in 1990, when it had over 300. It now has 107 Eurofighter Typhoons and at least 37 F-35 Lightning IIs, though they are technically superior. Uncrewed aircraft systems – drones – which did not exist in 1990, now form part of the UK’s military capabilities. Analysts say the UK needs to invest considerably more in this technology, as the Ukraine conflict has shown drones kill more people than traditional artillery.
The government has said it is planning “the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War”, but that is a low bar as spending has been on an almost constant downward path since the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is currently planning to commit 2.5% of GDP to Nato-qualifying defence spending by April 2027 (2.6% including security and intelligence), with an “ambition” to spend 3% in the next parliament. Healey’s resignation and the military chief’s letter suggest that ambition may be running out of time.