John Healey backpedals on military cash boost despite resigning from Keir Starmer’s govt over funding row

NewsUK News CHANCELLOR John Healey has sparked a hypocrisy row after backpedalling on a military cash boost he previously demanded. He notoriously quit as Defence Secretary earlier this year after then-PM Sir Keir Starmer failed to put a timeline on when armed forces spending would hit 3 per cent of GDP. Healey appears to have backpedalled on defence spending policies just months into his new role Credit: PA Prime Minister Andy Burnham appointed him Chancellor at the end of July this year Credit: Crown Copyright In an excoriating resignation letter at the time, he said: “I am certain that a headmark date for 3 per cent of GDP on defence in 2030 is what Britain must set.” In the surprise resignation, he blasted the PM and then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves for penny-pinching on a scale that he warned could leave Britain’s troops in peril. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Just last month, Healey suggested he would try to find billions more and put Britain on course to hit its military funding targets. But in his new Treasury role under Andy Burnham, he is not expected to lay out such a commitment in the October Budget. In his first all staff address at HM Treasury he committed to billions more on defence Credit: PA Healey quit in a row over spending with former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer Credit: Getty Instead he will wait until the Spending Review next year, with no guarantee spending will hit 3 per cent by the end of the decade. Ministers have pledged to hit the NATO 3.5 per cent commitment by 2035, up from 2.4 per cent currently. Tory Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge blasted: “He urged Starmer to go to 3 per cent by 2030. “Given he is now the Chancellor, it is extraordinary that he is backtracking on the very pledge which sealed the fate of the last PM and opened the door of Number 10 to Andy Burnham.” Most read in The Sun Ex-Foreign Secretary James Cleverly added: “John Healey resigned over Starmer’s refusal to properly fund defence. “Now it is Healey refusing to properly fund defence. Unforgivable.” Mr Healey’s departure in June helped bring down Sir Keir’s tumultuous premiership and pave the way for Mr Burnham’s rise to No10. Last night one former aide to Sir Keir told The Sun: “This is confirmation of what we always knew: John Healey’s resignation in June was never a matter of principle, it was just about triggering a leadership crisis in support of the grubby deal he’d made with Andy Burnham.” An ally of the Chancellor called the allegation “complete nonsense” and said his resignation “was about country not career.” A government spokesman said: “The first duty of government is to keep its citizens safe. The Prime Minister and Chancellor are committed to fully funding the Defence Investment Plan. At the Spending Review we will set out a pathway to meet our NATO commitment of 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2035 and will set a target date to hit 3 per cent on that path.” 1 comment1