Farage backs John Healey's 'principled' resignation - as he insists Starmer's 'premiership is over'
Nigel Farage has claimed Sir Keir Starmer’s “premiership is over” after Defence Secretary John Healey quit from government.
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In a damning letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Healey noted he was left with "no option" but to step down from the role.
Reacting to the resignation on Thursday morning, the Reform UK leader described it as a "principled resignation".
"He's absolutely right to have done so," he said.
Farage claimed Healey “wanted 3% to be spent on defence by 2030”, added the PM didn't match it by half.
And so, John Healey is gone, and what his message says is that the Prime Minister is not prioritising the defence of the realm.”
He also claimed Starmer now faces a leadership challenge, saying: “Keir Starmer's premiership is over. It's only a matter of time. Already in the corridors of Westminster, the jockeying position is going on whether Burnham wins next week or not. There will be a challenge over the course of this summer to Starmer's leadership. It's over.”
Asked whether the Prime Minister would survive until the autumn, Farage replied: “I don't think he'll be leader by the Labour conference, no.”
When discussing defence, Farage said the UK is in the "most massive trouble with our own military at a time when the world has never looked more unsafe".
He explained: “Let's face the facts. We haven't got an operational Royal Navy. We currently have 242 of our former Special Forces soldiers facing potential criminal trial.
"We are in the most massive trouble with our own military at a time when the world has never looked more unsafe.”
He also criticised the government over the Chagos Islands, saying: “I think what Chagos deals, the worst deal, the worst international deal I've ever seen in my life. And the main beneficiaries, Starmer's friends who've made millions.”
Quizzed on why Reform UK does not have a defence spokesperson, Farage said: “We don't have an individual defence spokesman.
"But at the start of this year it was just me. Now we have a Scottish leader, a Welsh leader, four major Cabinet roles filled and we'll fill the rest.”
He added: “For Reform UK very high. We are a work in progress.”