Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) listens as Britain's Defence Secretary John Healey speaks to apprentices and representatives from SMEs in the defence industry, during a careers fair inside 10 Downing Street in central London on March 3, 2025. British Defence Secretary John Healey resigned on June 11, 2026 (Credit: Adrian Dennis/AFP)
British Defense Secretary John Healey resigned on Thursday, in a surprise move which he said was due to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the finance ministry failing to commit sufficient resources to defence investment.
"You have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats," he wrote in a resignation letter to Starmer.
The government has delayed a long-awaited Defence Investment Plan that sets out funding over the next decade, amid reports that funding would fall far short of what had been requested.
British Defense Secretary John Healey resigned on Thursday, in a surprise move which he said was due to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the finance ministry failing to commit sufficient resources to defence investment.
"You have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats," he wrote in a resignation letter to Starmer.
The government has delayed a long-awaited Defence Investment Plan that sets out funding over the next decade, amid reports that funding would fall far short of what had been requested.
