John Healey resigns: 'Massive body blow' as PM loses his defence secretary - and more departures follow

Sir Keir Starmer has been dealt a double blow to his authority with the resignations of his defence secretary and armed forces minister.

The departure of John Healey from the top post has been labelled a "massive body blow" to the prime minister by the former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman. His exit was followed hours later by Al Carns, who quit soon after a live interview with Sky News.

As it happened: Healey and Carns quit government

Baroness Harman said Mr Healey's departure "pulls the rug" from under the view that Sir Keir – who has struggled at home – has been a success on foreign policy.

Sir Keir has sought to take a leading role on issues such as a potential post-war peacekeeping force in Ukraine, and weaning NATO's European members off reliance on the US.

Baroness Harman was speaking to Sky News political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast hours after Mr Healey announced his resignation over the prime minister's spending plans for transforming the armed forces.

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In his damning resignation letter, the now ex-defence secretary told the prime minister: "This era for defence required further investment through the defence investment plan.

"The excellent and 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, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats."

Mr Healey has been replaced by former security minister Dan Jarvis.

Mr Carns also submitted a resignation letter on Thursday night, saying "it has become clear to me that the change I had pushed for is not going to come".

Appearing on Sky's The Cathy Newman show less than an hour before, he said the prime minister's defence spending plan "isn't enough", and he "wasn't happy with the level of transformation in it".

In between, Labour MP Pamela Nash quit as Mr Healey's parliamentary assistant at the Ministry of Defence.

PM touts 'unprecedented' defence boost

Sir Keir has defended his defence investment plan, the publication of which has been delayed for months, prompting concern from military chiefs and industry leaders.

In his response to Mr Healey's letter, Sir Keir described the plan as "an unprecedented increase in defence spending in a sustainable way".

Sky News understands the Treasury has offered the Ministry of Defence (MoD) around an additional £13bn over four years to help fund the purchase of new jets, submarines, ships, drones and missiles.

As reported by security and defence editor Deborah Haynes, this is at the lower end of a range of between £12bn and £18bn that had been under consideration – and far short of the actual sum of extra money that the military believes it needs to rebuild its hollowed-out ranks at a time of escalating threats.

Healey 'a big loss'

Baroness Harman described Mr Healey's resignation as "a massive body blow".

She said: "The thing about John Healey is he was regarded as a very successful defence secretary, commanding the respect and confidence of the armed forces; a good communicator about what was going on in the armed services; and, I think, well respected by Labour MPs and across the House [of Commons].

"And also, he was not seen as a schemer or a plotter, not out for his own interests [or] trying to do things to advance his leadership potential, but just a loyal and dedicated cabinet member in the position of secretary of state for defence. And so that makes him a big loss."

Baroness Harman knows Mr Healey well – the pair served together in parliament from 1997 to 2024 and were in Ed Miliband's shadow cabinet together from 2010 to 2011.

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On what her former colleague's resignation means, Baroness Harman said: "Often people would have said about Keir Starmer, 'Well, he hasn't done so well back here in this country, but what he's done abroad, what he's done on defence, has worked'. He's been seen as a good and successful figure. In NATO, he stood up well on decisions in relation to Ukraine.

"And so to have this criticism about how he's worked on the non-domestic things pulls the rug out from under his feet on what he's done abroad, as well as the problems that he's faced here at home."

Shr went on to say that Mr Healey's resignation "puts more pressure on Rachel Reeves" as chancellor because people will be asking why she didn't "come up with the spending that was necessary".

But more broadly, the former deputy Labour leader said: "Keir Starmer himself has said the first duty of the prime minister is to keep the country safe. And what John Healey said in his resignation letter is that you are making the country less safe. And that's why it's so devastating."

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