The UK minister of state for the armed forces resigned from office just hours after Defence Secretary John Healey quit on Thursday, with both citing shortcomings in the government's defence spending plans.
In a letter addressed to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Healey had criticised funding for the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP) and said he had "no other option" but to resign.
The DIP, originally scheduled for publication in Autumn 2025, is due to set out the UK's defence spending for the next decade, but it has faced repeated delays despite warnings that the nation's armed forces face a major funding gap.
"Your DIP financial settlement - which I was first given in full on Monday afternoon this week - falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time," Healey wrote in his resignation letter.
"You know what defence needs," he continued. "Without a DIP that meets the moment in this way, I am being forced to make decisions that would reduce the readiness of our Forces and increase the risk to personnel on operations, and could make the country less safe".
Healey added that the Labour government would continue to have his support and that he was proud of the work he had done in the role.
Dan Jarvis, a former army officer and the Labour MP for Barnsley North, has since taken over as defence secretary.
On Thursday evening, Al Carns, the armed forces minister and Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak, also announced his resignation in a letter to Starmer, saying the UK was falling behind in its procurement strategy and pointing to the changing face of warfare.
"The character of conflict is changing faster than our procurement can keep up with," he wrote. "We are still purchasing capability suitable for the last war while our adversaries arm for the next one."
Addressing the DIP directly, he added: "While I had no hand in the Defence Investment Plan, that distance does allow me to say plainly that it is not built for the threat we face. It is neither transformative enough nor sufficiently funded".
Healey's surprise decision and his work as defence secretary have been met with praise from many across Westminster, with Carns saying he had given his country "serious service in a serious time".
"I worked alongside him closely. I saw the hours, the care, and the seriousness he brought to every brief, including the hardest ones," he wrote on X, adding that the Ministry of Defence is facing problems that "do not lend themselves to easy answers".
Reform UK's Robert Jenrick also weighed in, commending Healey for his decision and saying Starmer and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves should step down as well.
"This Government has all the money in the world for Ed Milliband’s mad plans, foreign aid, and benefits for foreigners. But nothing for our armed forces. Good on John Healey. Shame on them," he said.
In a post on social media, Tory MP and former Foreign Secretary James Cleverly added that he had "always respected" Healey and that he "clearly takes defence of the realm and defence of our interests more seriously than either Keir Starmer or Rachel Reeves".
The resignations come amid mounting pressure on Starmer and are the latest in a string of ministerial departures since former Health Secretary Wes Streeting left his role in May.
