John Healey’s resignation hasn’t just rocked Keir Starmer, it has nuked him. For months a debate has been raging inside and outside of government about whether Sir Keir has the authority and courage to face down his party – and his Chancellor – and produce the resources necessary to boost Britain’s defences at a time of unique global peril.
Now that debate has ended. ‘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’, the outgoing defence secretary has confirmed.
Every criticism from Kemi Badenoch, our Nato allies and our beleaguered military chiefs. Every one of them has been shown to be correct.
The primary responsibility of any Prime Minister is the defence of the realm. And what has now been proven beyond a shadow of doubt is Keir Starmer is no longer able to fulfil that most basic obligation to King and country.
Over the past couple of weeks, Starmer was desperately trying to convince his Chancellor Rachel Reeves to sign off for the additional spending the armed forces require. She refused.
For months a debate has been raging inside and outside of government about whether Sir Keir can produce the resources necessary to boost Britain’s defences at a time of unique global peril, writes Dan Hodges. With John Healey’s resignation, that debate has ended
He then turned to members of his cabinet, begging them to accept significant cuts in their own budgets to find the necessary savings for the uplift in defence. They refused.
In fact, some of them basically laughed in his face. As one Minister told me last week, ‘He honestly thinks we’re all going to agree to find massive new cuts so he can boost defence spending, pose as some great war leader, and save his premiership. It’s utterly delusional.’
And dangerously delusional. All Starmer and his small group of fanatical advisors have been focused on is trying to find some way to stave off his inevitable demise. Their latest hare-brained strategy was to try and paint him as the saviour of the West, whilst portraying his perceived rivals – Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting – as the callow dilettantes unsuited to out dangerous times.
What they didn’t realise was that the majority of the cabinet are now united in wanting him to name a day for his departure, and many of them are preparing their own leadership bids. John Healey’s resignation has taken many people by surprise.
But the fact that he has been laying the groundwork for a challenge to Starmer has been an open secret for months. As one Labour grandee told me back in February, ‘John’s getting ready. He’s spending a lot of time in the bars and the tea-rooms. He’s pressing the flesh. Watch: He’s going to go for it.’
John Healey seems to be laying the groundwork for a challenge to Starmer, writes Dan Hodges (Pictured together visiting British soldiers at a NATO base in Estonia, close to the Russian border)
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BREAKING NEWS Defence Secretary John Healey QUITS with brutal attack on Starmer for failing to ‘defend country’
He has. Healey’s resignation was principled. But it also gives him the opportunity to position himself as the Statesman in Labour’s upcoming leadership race. Respected on all wings of the party, experienced, and the recent holder of one of the major offices of state, he will be a serious challenger.
But he will not be alone. It is now only a matter of time before other ministers begin to decouple themselves from Starmer.
The Prime Minister’s recent bombastic pledges to fight any leadership contest triggered by Andy Burnham’s expected victory in Makerfield were designed to scare off any other potential challengers. John Healey has called his bluff. And he will not be the last to do so.
Keir Starmer’s leadership was already dead. But what Healey’s resignation underlines is how imperative it now is for Starmer to be removed from office without delay. Because Britain’s enemies are watching. And what they can see is a defenceless, rudderless nation that is drifting into catastrophe – both domestically and internationally – because it no longer has a Prime Minister capable of fulfilling even the most basic functions of his office.
John Healey has resigned. For the good of the nation, Keir Starmer’s resignation must swiftly follow.
