‘I’m not going away,’ says Keir Starmer despite defence secretary’s exit

PM promises to fight any leadership challenge, saying any successor would face same problems as him

Keir Starmer has said he knows he has to “turn things around” after a series of crises culminating in the resignation of John Healey, the defence secretary, but warned that any successor would face the same difficult decisions.

In an interview with the BBC after Healey’s departure in a row over defence spending, Starmer promised again to fight any leadership challenge from Andy Burnham or others, saying: “I’m not going to go away.”

He also suggested said that if Burnham did replace him in No 10, there would be a near-identical set of pressures and tough decisions for him given the state of international conflict and the resulting economic impacts.

Starmer said: “I would just gently say this: that whoever is prime minister is going to face the same prevailing winds as I am facing. None of that is going to change.”

In a scathing resignation letter on Thursday, Healey accused Starmer of putting the country’s security at risk and being unable to stand up to his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and make faster progress in the coming defence investment plan (Dip) towards spending at least 3.5% of GDP on defence by 2035.

Al Carns, the armed forces minister, also quit. Speaking to the BBC on Friday morning, Carns accused the government of not spending enough money on the military and spending on the wrong weapons.

With Burnham increasingly expected to win next Thursday’s Makerfield byelection and return to Westminster, many Labour MPs see a leadership challenge as imminent. It could also involve Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, who quit Starmer’s government last month in the wake of terrible election results for Labour.