Starmer Vows to Fight On After Defense Chief’s Resignation

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged not to step down over a dispute with of his former defense chief, signaling that he would try to hold onto the job through a key election next week.

Starmer said in an interview with the BBC on Friday that he was “not going to walk away,” after ex-Defense Secretary John Healey quit the government and accused the premier of being “unable” to commit the resources needed to defend the country. Healey’s replacement, Dan Jarvis, said on Friday that the Defense Investment Plan at the center of the argument was still being finalized.

Read More: New UK Defense Chief Warns of ‘Challenges’ Amid Spending Fight ·

The resignation comes just weeks after former Health Secretary Wes Streeting quit to mount a likely leadership challenge against Starmer. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is standing in a by-election on Thursday and is widely expected to throw his own hat into the ring if he gains a seat in the House of Commons.

Asked whether he would join any contest, Starmer said he didn’t think “we should plunge the country into the chaos of a leadership election.”

“I don’t think it should happen, but, if it does, then I will fight,” Starmer said. “And let me just be clear with you: That’s not about personal vanity. It’s not about stubbornness. It’s out of a very deep sense of duty.”

Starmer insisted his Labour Party was governing well. “We have invested heavily in defense, we have stabilized the economy and we have invested heavily in our public services,” he said. “That is a very sound platform and I want to complete the work I was elected into government to do.”

The rift in government has emerged as the government attempts to finalize the Defense Investment Plan, which will set out a road map for spending in the sector over the next decade. Jarvis said in a speech on Friday morning that there were “significant challenges ahead” for the government, and that work on the plan, which has been repeatedly pushed back, was still underway.

Starmer said he had already made “hard-edged decisions,” such as increasing defense spending from 2.3%. to 2.6% of GDP by 2027, taking money from the overseas aid budget. That was motivated in part by pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has long accused other North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries of spending too little on their militaries.

US Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby said on Friday that there was “a great need for more British military strength in this critical time.” He said in a post on X responding to Healey’s resignation that the US urged “the UK to meet that need with urgency, scale, and determination.”

Asked by the BBC about progress on the Defense Investment Plan, Starmer said he had “reallocated resources from other departments to defense,” and that the further increase in funding would be “considerable.” The cuts to other departments did not entail reductions to day-to-day spending, Starmer said, “because I’m not prepared to cut our public services.”

The divide between the Treasury and the Ministry of Defense centers on the amount of money which will be earmarked for defense spending in the DIP. Despite a £28 billion ($38 billion) shortfall identified by officials, the Treasury offered just £10 billion in real cash terms this week after failing to drum up more money through cuts in other departments.

Rather than commit to reaching spending of 3% of GDP by 2030 — an expensive task — the Treasury wanted to reach 3% in 2034-35 and just 2.68% in 2030.

Starmer said that while he had the “highest respect” for senior military figures who have warned this isn’t enough, he added that “I don’t agree.” Defense would be the “No. 1 priority” in the next spending review, he said.