Rory Stewart

You've got to do it.

And then if you give the impression that you're going to bring together a defense investment plan, which is going to meet the challenges set out in that review, you've got to do it.

And you've got to do it quickly.

And you've got to keep your defense secretary on side.

and that is good for Britain's defense, but it also would be smart politics, because losing your defense secretary, looking like you're trying to sort of cheese-pair around the edges, doesn't get you anywhere.

I mean, they'll end up spending a fortune on defense anyway.

They're going to have to spend on nuclear, they're going to have to spend on orcas.

But what Rachel Reeves will have achieved, probably, with the Treasury, is a little bit of savings around the margins, which are not sufficient to transform her finances.

but are just enough to irritate Healy enough that he actually walks out on them and gives everyone the impression that Labour's weak on defence.

So why did they do it?

Why can't Starmer see this?

So I don't know.

In the conversation, you've been in many, many of these conversations, and I've seen a couple of them.

When a minister goes in to say, unless you do this, I resign, as the prime minister, you've got two choices.

You either concede reluctantly and very angrily because you don't like being blackmailed, or you say, I'm sorry, I'm not doing it.

You can resign.

And Stalin has obviously chosen the latter option.

I guess there would have been an option for him over the last three days to be like, okay, John, you can have everything you want.

And just stay.

And he's chosen not to.