I have a duty to stay on, says PM as he justifies defence spending
Healey said the plan would lift defence spending to just 2.68% of GDP by 2030, below military chiefs’ call for 3%.
- On Friday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed to fight to stay in office after Defense Secretary John Healey resigned Thursday, further weakening his already strained leadership.
- Healey resigned after Treasury chief Rachel Reeves refused to fund a defense investment plan reaching 3% of GDP by 2030, citing British intelligence warnings that Russia could attack a NATO member country by 2030.
- Former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns resigned Thursday, calling the plan not 'transformative enough' and arguing for higher investment in AI and uncrewed systems, saying data is 'the new gunpowder' for winning future wars.
- Starmer's position remains strained as ministerial departures coincide with next week's Makerfield by-election, where Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is widely expected to win and launch a formal leadership challenge.
- Insisting he is staying put, the Prime Minister told the BBC on Friday that defense is 'my number one priority' and he will fight to avoid plunging the country into the 'chaos of a leadership election.
58 Articles
58 Articles
Carns warns ‘UK not ready’ after MoD resignation
Britain is not ready for the next war and is not being honest with itself about what getting ready will cost, the former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns has said, in a series of public interventions the day after he resigned from the Ministry of Defence alongside John Healey over the Defence Investment Plan. Carns, the MP for Birmingham Selly Oak and a former Royal Marines colonel who is among the most decorated members of the Commons, quit on Th…
Unite’s Graham pines for Healey exit
Unite — Sharon Graham’s call for looser fiscal rules to fund military spending was slammed by Stop the War’s officer, Shabbir Lakha. Graham was mourning the resignation of John Healey as defence secretary, who resigned citing Starmer and his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, as not ‘serious’ enough about spending huge amounts of our money on military build-up. Lakha pointed out that the government is already cutting 1% of all capital budgets to pay for…
Starmer insists defence is his top priority as pressure mounts
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he’s taken “hard edged decisions” to raise defence spending – after two ministers resigned on Thursday in a row over military funding. The Prime Minister said defence was his top priority, and declared he would fight any challenge to his leadership.
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