UK Defence Secretary resigns

Image by Willie Barton / copyright Shuttestock

In a letter to the Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Mr Healey stated: "I am certain that a headmark date for3% of GDP on defence is what Britain must set."

He went on to say that the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) "falls well short of what is required for defence and this country at this dangerous time" and that it "rises to just 2.68% of GDP in 2030, when we will reach 2.6% next year with the investment we are already making".

The government’s aim was to raise defence spending to 3% of GDP in the next few years and NATO leaders had set a target 3.5% on defence spending by 2035. John Healey had previously recognised the "scale of the challenge" in light of the current threat environment.

Responsing to John Healey’s resignation letter, the PM said: "I will always do what is needed to keep our country safe. I thank you for your work to deliver on all of this.

"You are also right that we have to go further. The Defence Investment Plan does just that delivering an unprecedented increase in defence spending in a sustainable way. It will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe and the clarity the British defence industry needs to plan. It will make the big strategic investments we need for the long term and give the certainty which private finance needs to invest. It will allow our armed forces to transform and modernise and back them with the tools they need to change the way we fight and to deter our enemies. And crucially it will ensure the money spent is spent wisely and used to back jobs and growth here in Britain."

Alistair Carns DSO OBE MC MP, the UK Armed Forces Minister also resigned yesterday, stating that the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) was "neither transformative enough nor sufficiently funded".

Author of the government’s own Strategic Defence Review (SDR) published in June 2025, former UK Defence Secretary and NATO Director General, Lord George Robertson, recently observed that: "We are underprepared. We are underinsured. We are under attack. We are not safe."

In an interview a few weeks ago, featured in the latest edition of ADVANCE magazine, ADS CEO Kevin Craven outlined some of the implications of the delayed DIP, particularly for industry: "There will be a time lag. Everyone involved – the armed forces, industry – will need to take some time to understand the impact and the detail."

The Prime Minister has subsequently appointed Dan Jarvis MBE MP – former British Army officer and Minister of State for Security – as the new Defence Secretary.