UK defence funding crisis has been a long time coming

John Healey’s complaint is that Starmer sat on this problem for months before making a derisory offer

John Healey’s resignation as defence secretary on Thursday was a long time brewing, though in the end the denouement was swift. It leaves an already weak Keir Starmer without a defence strategy less than a month before a Nato summit and an unresolved row about spending as Donald Trump threatens to restart the bombing of Iran.

On Monday, No 10 finally told Healey how much more money it was prepared to give the Ministry of Defence to fund major projects as part of the defence investment plan (Dip).

Its programmes include the £41bn Dreadnought submarine replacement for Trident – and a mooted investment in drones, ready for a future Ukraine-style war.

The plan was also a vital element of the UK’s progress towards meeting a Nato target agreed by Starmer a year earlier to lift defence spending from 2.6% of GDP in 2027 to 3.5% by 2035, nearly £30bn in real terms.

Some of its projects are diplomatically significant too: including the Aukus nuclear-powered submarine development programme with Australia and the US.

There had been months of wrangling behind the scenes between the MoD and the Treasury, but in the final analysis Healey was to be disappointed.

Though Starmer said in February that Britain “needs to go faster” on defence spending, all he was prepared to offer Healey was an extra £2bn or 0.08% of GDP by 2030.