British Defense Minister John Healey Has Resigned

• 11.06.2026, 18:16

The official sent a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

British Defense Minister John Healey has announced his resignation. The resignation letter, addressed to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Healy posted on his account on social media platform X.

According to the letter, in less than two years, the Labour government “has succeeded in making London a leading player on the international stage in support of Ukraine,” as well as “establish the UK as Europe’s leading representative in NATO” and increase defense spending to 2.5% of GDP. However, this new era in defense required further investment.

“Since then, you [Keir Starmer] have been unable, and the Treasury unwilling, to allocate the resources the country needs to defend itself against growing threats at this time,” Healy noted in his letter.

He added that defense requirements have increased since the start of the conflict in Iran; furthermore, Britain has participated in the “Arctic Guardian” mission. In this regard, the Ministry of Defense has developed a Defense Investment Plan that would address two objectives: address the growing operational needs of the defense sector and set out a clear path to meet the new commitment to NATO—to increase defense spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035.

However, Starmer’s proposal for this plan, which Healy received on Monday, June 8, “falls significantly short of what is needed for the country’s defense.”

“You know what defense needs. You made a compelling case for this in your speech at the Munich Security Conference in February. Without a Defense Investment Plan that meets the demands of the times, I am forced to make decisions that will reduce the combat readiness of our forces, increase the risk to personnel during operations, and may make the country less safe,” the document states.

At the end of the letter, Healy wished Starmer “continued success in tackling exceptional challenges.”