Military spending plans will 'keep us safe', insists Starmer in response to defence secretary resignation
John Healey stepped down from his role as defence secretary in a move which has lead to a political pile on, including Nigel Farage claiming Sir Keir Starmer’s “premiership is over”
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted a key defence funding plan “will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe” in a letter to John Healey, who the Prime Minister said he was sorry to see resign as defence secretary.
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Prime Minister Keir Starmer has claimed that the key defence funding plan “will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe”, in a letter responding to the news of John Healey’s resignation.
Sir Keir thanked Healey for his work as defence secretary and said he was “sorry that you will not be part of that work going forward”.
The former defence secretary resigned after claiming the money in the defence investment plan would not be sufficient to defend the UK against threats.
In response, Starmer said: “I will always do what is needed to keep our country safe.”
The prime minister has insisted he was increasing defence spending “in a sustainable way” and said “irresponsible borrowing” would put the country’s finances “at risk”.
He added that Healey was “right that we have to go further” on defence spending but maintained that the defence investment plan “does just that, delivering an unprecedented increase in defence spending in a sustainable way”.
He went on to say: “Strong public finances are part of what keeps us safe - irresponsible borrowing only puts that at risk.”
Nigel Farage claimed Sir Keir Starmer’s “premiership is over” after Defence Secretary John Healey quit from government.
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.”