Defence secretary quits: is this the end for Starmer? – The Latest
episodePreviously titled “Defence secretary quits with ‘blistering’ swipe at Starmer - The Latest” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 2, 2026
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What prompted John Healey's resignation as Defence Secretary?
This is The Guardian.
The fact of the resignation is one thing, but the actual wording of the statement is so blistering. He said, you are not as committed to defence as you claim, and you're actually putting our security at risk. Not only is he saying that Keir Starmer is not willing to do it, but he's unable to overrule his chancellor. So he's saying he's also weak. All of these things play into all of the doubts that Keir Starmer's critics have about him.
From The Guardian's Today In Focus, this is The Latest with me, Noshie Nickval. Kieran Stacey, you're The Guardian's policy editor, and I don't want to make too many assumptions about our audience, but I think when a lot of people see the headline, John Healey resigns, they might then think, who? But this is a very big deal. Why?
Well, first of all, John Healy was, until about an hour ago, the Defence Secretary. That's a pretty big job in itself. It's a big job. It's true to say that he's probably one of the more low-key members of the Cabinet. I've actually known him for quite a long time and he's very softly spoken.
How does Healey's statement impact Keir Starmer's leadership?
But he's well-liked. He's been around the Labour Party for an extremely long time. He's got a history in the Treasury. He's done senior jobs at a number of posts. But why is this a big deal? Because the fight that the government is having right now is over defense spending. And we are told, although this has been happening behind closed doors until today, that the Treasury had been saying that they were willing to fund a certain amount for the defense budget over the next few years. And that John Healey, the defense secretary, was pushing back very heavily and saying, no, we need much more. The problem is you've got Keir Starmer saying that defense of this country and also geopolitical uncertainty and instability is the major force in the world right now.
The one political issue we need to deal with. And not only have you just had his defense secretary resign saying you're not going to spend enough on defense. But if you look at the statement he's put out, it is really damaging for the prime minister and probably for the party as a whole.
Can you tell me more about the statement? Because how big is the shortfall in the first instance between what Healy was asking for and what the government was able to negotiate?
We think the military chiefs had said, we think this requires another £28 billion on top of what's already been promised.
What are the implications of the government's military spending plans?
I mean, they're always going to go at the top end.
They're always going high. It's what the military chiefs do. They were saying £28 billion over the next four years. That got moderated, we're told, to a request for £18 billion. What sources are now saying today is that the Treasury came back with their final offer on Monday afternoon and they said something in the realm of 14 or 15 billion pounds, only 10 billion pounds of which was new money, though. And that seems to have been very important. And a lot of it was backdated. So it was due to come in towards the end of the four year period. And what John Healy has said is the gap between what we wanted and what you're offering is one of whether our country is safe or not. And that is such a huge accusation to make against the prime minister.
And then what does that then mean for national security if there is that big gap and if your secretary of state of defence is resigning over the issue?
It's difficult to know. If you listen to Treasury people, they will say, well, look, the problem you've got is the Ministry of Defence, as you say, Nosheen, always asks for too much, number one. And number two, always mismanages its projects.
What was the shortfall in defence budget negotiations?
Very famous example of this, the Ajax tank programme, tanks that basically didn't work and ran up huge bills as the Ministry of Defence tried to build them. And the Treasury always says, well, look, you don't run these programs very well. You ask for a lot of money. You try and build very big, very sophisticated pieces of kit. They're often out of date by the time you get them. The Ministry of Defense, what they would say is we are living in a time of real instability.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What prompted John Healey's resignation as Defence Secretary?
0:00–1:15
2
How does Healey's statement impact Keir Starmer's leadership?
1:15–2:22
3
What are the implications of the government's military spending plans?
2:22–3:24
4
What was the shortfall in defence budget negotiations?
3:24–4:26
5
How does the Treasury's offer compare to military chiefs' demands?
4:26–5:40
6
What are the major defence projects under scrutiny?
5:40–6:44
7
How does Healey's resignation affect national security discussions?
6:44–7:53
8
What does Healey's resignation mean for Labour's future leadership?
7:53–11:53