Defence Secretary John Healey's resignation letter and Starmer's response in full

Defence Secretary John Healeyand Armed Forces Minister Al Carns haveresigned fromPrime Minister SirKeir Starmer's government.

In a letter to the prime minister,Healeysaid the UK's defence investment plan "falls well short of what is required for defence. the country at this dangerous time".

In a separate resignation, hours later, Carns said he could not "in good conscience stand at the dispatch box. defend a level of investment I know to be inadequate to the task".

In hisearlierresponse letterto Healey, Sir Keir said the plan was backed with "the necessary investment" and lamented the minister's departure.

Here are the letters in full:

This is a letter I never expected to write, and I do so now with great regret and reluctance.

I am proud of what we have done in less than two years as a Labour Government. We've stepped up to lead internationally for Ukraine with the Coalition of the Willing. Ukraine Defence Contact Group, established Britain as a leading voice for Europe in NATO, raised defence investment to 2.5% of GDP three years earlier than anyone expected, launched the deepest defence reforms in 50 years, won the biggest UK defence export deals for decades, published a first-of-its-kind Strategic Defence Review, gave our Armed Forces the biggest pay rise in nearly 20 years, boosted military morale, fixed over 1,200 of the worst forces family homes, reset relations with European allies and signed major defence agreements with Germany, Norway and France.

You have led this as PM, earning wide respect at home and abroad. Like me, I know you are exceptionally proud of our Forces and all of those who work in UK Defence.

We came into government, recognising Britain faced a new era of threat which demanded a new era for defence. The SDR (Strategic Defence Review) we jointly commissioned set the 10-year vision to transform our Armed Forces, strengthen alliances, invest in the technology that is changing warfare. back British industry to make defence an engine for growth.

This new era for defence required further investment through the Defence Investment Plan (DIP). The excellent. extensive cross-government work that completed in January-overseen by you, me and the Chancellor - confirmed the scale of the challenge and the rising demands on defence.

Since then, you have been unable,. the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats.

Since then. the demands on defence have increased still further, as have the UK commitments you have rightly made to allies. Conflict in the Middle East, with the UK now leading the multinational Strait of Hormuz military mission; High North security, with the UK now leading NATO's Arctic Sentry mission; increased Russian activity towards the UK. NATO nations and increased attacks in Ukraine, with the Paris Agreement confirming a British deployment to Ukraine after a ceasefire.

We have worked to secure a Defence Investment Plan that does two things. First, deal with the increasing operational demands on defence now. step up the SDR actions to meet the increasing threat. Second. set a clear path to meet the new NATO commitment you agreed to spend 3.5% of GDP in 2035 through the next Spending Review.

As we have regularly discussed. I am certain that a headmark date for 3% of GDP on defence in 2030 is what Britain must set. This commitment would have strong cross-party support. Other European allies are stepping up in this way.

I know how hard you have worked to get to this point. And in funding the DIP, I fully recognise the strain this places on colleagues in other Departments, both now as you have required spending switched into defence. in the future. I am very grateful to those colleagues who have supported this,. I appreciate how difficult their choices will have been.

As I've outlined to you, there are credible ways of meeting the mid-term funding challenges, working multi-nationally. as other European nations are doing, to allow us to protect our ability to deliver the missions of our Labour Government.

However, 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. the country at this dangerous time. The extra support is backloaded when the pressure of operations. imperative to speed up readiness to fight is in the first two years and it rises to just 2.68% of GDP in 2030, when we will reach 2.6% next year with the investment we are already making.

You spelled out the threats last week: "it is our intelligence assessment,. the assessment of other countries in NATO, that there could be an attack by Russia on NATO as soon as 2030."

You know what defence needs. You made the argument for this powerfully in your speech at the Munich Security Conference back in February. 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. increase the risk to personnel on operations, and could make the country less safe.

After explaining to you that I would not be able to accept a DIP settlement that does not give our Forces the resources they need. I am now left with no other option than to submit my resignation as your Defence Secretary.

I wish you all continuing strength in the exceptional challenges you face as Prime Minister.

As always, our Labour Government will continue to have my fullest support.

Rt Hon John Healey MP

It has been the privilege of my life to serve this country, first in uniform and then in government.

I have said that there are issues facing this Department that do not lend themselves to easy answers,. that there needs to be agreement throughout the government about the scale of the challenges we face. It has become clear to me that the change I had pushed for is not going to come. Given the situation, I have decided to resign as Minister for the Armed Forces.

We face a more unstable. dangerous world than at any point in recent decades, and having spent most of my adult life in uniform, I understand what public service in such a moment demands.

It is for this very reason I cannot continue.

I have watched, as a Marine, what war looks like now. I have spoken to those who have seen it up close in Ukraine. The lesson is uncomfortable and it is unambiguous. The character of conflict is changing faster than our procurement can keep up with. We are still purchasing capability suitable for the last war while our adversaries arm for the next one. Platforms that cost billions can be defeated by systems that cost thousands. Any serious Defence Investment Plan has to start from that reality.

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. We are asking our Armed Forces to operate in a more dangerous world on a budget written for a calmer one.

I have sat in the rooms, seen the assessments,. spoken to the commanders who will be asked to do more with less, and I cannot in good conscience stand at the dispatch box and defend a level of investment I know to be inadequate to the task. A serious country funds its defence to meet the threat it actually faces, not the threat it wishes it faced.

The same instinct, that serious problems can be managed rather than faced, runs through the Northern Ireland Legacy Bill. I have worked to fix the Bill from the inside, but it remains unfit for purpose. It risks failing the very veterans it claims to protect. Men. women I served with, those I buried friends alongside, people who did their duty under conditions most individuals in Westminster will never have to imagine.

I set out the changes I believed were necessary,. the lines which I could not in good conscience go beyond. Those lines have not been accepted. I have run out of room to argue this case honourably from inside government. A serving minister cannot ask fellow veterans to trust a process he no longer trusts himself.

These two failures are the same failure. We ask soldiers to fight for this country. In return, we owe them the kit to do the job. the loyalty to stand by them when it's done. We are failing on both.

The same failure of seriousness runs through how this country treats the people it asks the most of, in uniform. out of it.

Too many working people in this country feel insecure even when they are doing everything right. They work hard, contribute, pay their taxes, and still feel one setback away from trouble. Public confidence in our institutions is weakening, and politics increasingly looks performative while everyday life gets harder.

The machinery of government itself has been left to decay. Decisions that should take days, take months. Departments fight each other instead of the problem. Officials and ministers who know the truth are not always rewarded for telling it. We are trying to govern a more dangerous world with processes designed for a calmer one,. the gap is now showing in the things that matter most.

National resilience is about more than defence in the narrow sense. A strong country is not simply one with capable armed forces. It is one where working people feel economically secure, public services function, energy is resilient, communities are stable,. young people can see a future worth working towards.

If my resignation accelerates the transition towards resolution, then the impact will far outweigh the act. We need a new way of governing and we need it now.

For my own part, I will keep arguing for a politics rooted in resilience, seriousness, and national renewal. For a country where working people can once again feel secure about the future. And for the service personnel and veterans this government still has a duty to.

The deal this country makes with the people who serve it, in uniform, in classrooms, on building sites, is broken. I'm going to spend my time on the backbenches trying to fix it.

I'll keep fighting for the people I served with. I hope this government will too.

Al Carns DSO OBE MC MP

Member of Parliament for Birmingham Selly Oak

The world today is more dangerous and uncertain than at any point in our lifetimes. That requires a serious response to build our economic resilience and our national defences.

We have achieved a great deal working together. We inherited a situation where our armed forces had faced years of underfunding and neglect. Our work leading the Coalition of the Willing on Ukraine, defending our Gulf allies,. working together with like-minded nations on a plan for the Strait of Hormuz has helped make the world more secure. I am proud of our record on funding.

When we entered government in 2024. I took the decision to increase defence spending after the Conservatives hollowed out our armed forces. That required a cut to the international aid budget. the result was the highest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War. I will always do what is needed to keep our country safe. I thank you for your work to deliver on all of this.

You are also right that we have to go further. The Defence Investment Plan does just that - delivering an unprecedented increase in defence spending in a sustainable way. It will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe. the clarity the British defence industry needs to plan.

It will make the big strategic investments we need for the long term. give the certainty which private finance needs to invest. It will allow our armed forces to transform. modernise and back them with the tools they need to change the way we fight - and to deter our enemies. And crucially it will ensure the money spent is spent wisely. used to back jobs and growth here in Britain.

We are backing this with the necessary investment. The increases in spending that underpin this plan will be sustainable and fair. They will mean significant reallocations of funding from across government departments and the right choices to protect our nation. Strong public finances are part of what keeps us irresponsible borrowing only puts that at risk.

Taking these decisions is never easy. I am determined to rebuild our country after years of being buffeted by crises. I am sorry that you will not be part of that work going forward.

THE RT HON SIR KEIR STARMER KCB KC MP