Sarwar calls on Starmer to 'urgently address defence spending' after wave of resignations
The Scottish Labour leader has urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to rethink defence spending commitments.
Anas Sarwar has called on Sir Keir Starmer to “urgently” address a “need to adequately invest in our defences” amid a wave of dramatic resignations over UK government spending priorities.
John Healey quit as the UK’s defence secretary, accusing the Prime Minister of failing to properly fund the Defence Investment Plan (DIP).
In a further blow to Sir Keir’s leadership, Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke MP Pamala Nash also resigned as parliamentary private secretary to the defence secretary.
And then armed forces minister Al Carns announced his resignation. The Scot, a former Royal Marines officer, wrote on social media: “We owe those who serve the UK the kit to do the job and the loyalty to stand by them when it’s done. We are failing on both.”
In his letter to Sir Keir, Mr Healey said the Prime Minister had 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”.
The DIP, originally called for by the Strategic Defence Review almost exactly a year ago, has been long delayed by wrangling over funding.
Mr Healey said he had received a financial settlement for the DIP on Monday afternoon which “falls well short of what is required”, with extra support coming after 2030 when the “imperative to speed up readiness to fight is in the first two years”.
The resignation and scathing assessment of defence spending piles further pressure on the Prime Minister less than a week before the Makerfield by-election, which could see Andy Burnham launch a leadership challenge if he wins.
Scottish Labour leader Mr Sarwar said Mr Healey was an “honourable and principled man”, adding, “he was a fantastic defence secretary”.
In a letter to Sir Keir, Mr Healey said the Prime Minister had 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”.
The DIP, originally called for by the Strategic Defence Review almost exactly a year ago, has been long delayed by wrangling over funding.
Mr Healey said he had received a financial settlement for the DIP on Monday afternoon which “falls well short of what is required”, with extra support coming after 2030 when the “imperative to speed up readiness to fight is in the first two years”.
The resignation and scathing assessment of defence spending piles further pressure on the Prime Minister with less than a week until the Makerfield by-election that could see Andy Burnham launch a leadership challenge if he wins.
Scottish Labour leader Mr Sarwar, who called on Sir Keir to quit in February, said Mr Healey’s resignation means the UK government must “urgently” address a “need to adequately invest in our defences”.
Speaking at Holyrood, Mr Sarwar said Mr Healey was an “honourable and principled man”.
“He was a fantastic defence secretary”, he added.
“I know this is a decision he will not have made lightly. I don’t know the ins and outs of the details of the strategic defence plan, but I know he will have taken this issue very, very seriously.”
Mr Sarwar said: “The issue of national security is a duty of any government - in fact, it is the first duty of any government. So we do need to have a meaningful strategic defence plan put forward and I hope that is the response to the resignation.
“There are huge questions that exist because of the global instability. We don’t have the same reassurances from, for example, the US we’ve had in previous times.
“That requires a serious response from government and I hope that’s what we’ll get, now we’ve seen the situation today.”
Mr Sarwar said that Mr Healey’s resignation meant there was now a “need to have a coherent and robust response” to “make sure we are properly investing in our defence”, particularly in the current global climate.
He said: “We do need to adequately invest in our defences - and this is a matter the government must address urgently.”
The Scottish Labour leader stressed that the “significant investment” at the Govan shipyard was “one of the greatest achievements of this UK Labour government”.
But he added: “There are broader issues around national security given the international situation, given what’s happening with the instability in the Middle East, given the threats from Russia, not just to Ukraine but the wider world.
“That does mean we have to take the issue of national security really seriously. That’s why we need a properly thought-through and properly-invested defence infrastructure.”
Scottish Labour MP Graeme Downie, said the UK is a “frontline nation already in a conflict with Russia at sea, in the air and in cyberspace”.
“It is time the government woke up to that reality as well,” he added.
Mr Downie said this included “confronting the difficult decisions needed to increase our capabilities immediately, with a plan to properly fund them in the long-term, not by the kind of last minute rushed decisions we have seen reported in recent days.”
He added: “John Healey has worked incredibly hard to support our service personnel and armed forces more widely but the DIP has clearly not been fit for purpose, leading to us falling behind our allies on progress and losing global leadership. The top of government has taken too long to sort this out.
“I am very sad to see John leave government and I hope we now finally see a recognition of the grave times we are living in and finally take the action necessary to protect our country.”
In his resignation letter, Mr Healey criticised Sir Keir’s unwillingness to commit enough resources to defence.
He wrote: “This new era for defence required further investment through the Defence Investment Plan. The excellent and extensive cross-government work that was 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.”
He said that “demands on defence have increased still further”, pointing to the Iran war, threats from Russia in the High North, and escalation in the Ukraine conflict.
Mr Healey said the proposal for spending in the Defence Investment Plan that he was given on Monday “falls well short” of what is required.
He said he had outlined that there are “credible ways” to meet funding challenges in his resignation letter to Sir Keir Starmer as Defence Secretary.
Mr Healey said the Defence Investment Plan, as proposed by Sir Keir, “could make the country less safe”.
In her letter to Sir Keir, Ms Nash said: “I regret to inform you that I am resigning as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Defence, and the Defence Ministerial Team, following John Healey’s resignation earlier today. This is not an action I take lightly.
“The defence of our nation is the most important responsibility for any government. The delays and difficulties with securing the necessary funding to progress the defence investment plan has been the latest issue that is damaging to the trust of the public in us.
“We saw this laid bare in last month’s election results. Our Government’s successes are consistently drowned out by mistakes and the failure to be bold when it matters most.
“Our country is more divided now than it has ever been in my lifetime, and our political opponents are both the provokers and the beneficiaries. If we cannot provide a strong vision for the UK’s future, and enact a clear, progressive route to get there, then we are allowing the unthinkable: for those opponents to take power. We must do better.
“On a personal level, I wish to thank you for the support that you have given me. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to serve in our Labour Government which we all worked so hard to get elected.
“I will continue to strive from the backbenches for the future my constituents in Motherwell, Wishaw, and Carluke deserve and I hope that our movement can come together to achieve this for people across the UK.”
In his resignation letter, Mr Carns, who is originally from Aberdeen, said “the character of conflict is changing faster than our procurement can keep up with”.
He said the defence investment plan “is not built for the threat we face” and “is neither transformative enough nor sufficiently funded”.
He added: “We are asking our Armed Forces to operate in a more dangerous world on a budget written for a calmer one.
“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, and young people can see a future worth working towards.”
Mr Carns finished the letter by saying he will “keep fighting for the people I served with” and hoped the government will do the same.
In his reply to Mr Healey, Sir Keir said he agreed that the government has to “go further” on increasing defence funding.
But he added: “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 and the clarity the British defence industry needs to plan.
“It will make the big strategic investments we need for the long term and give the certainty which private finance needs to invest. It will allow our armed forces to transform and 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 and used to back jobs and growth here in Britain.”
The plan is backed by “the necessary investment”, Sir Keir said, adding that increases in spending underpinning the plan will be “sustainable and fair”.
Warning of cuts elsewhere in the Government, the Prime Minister said extra defence spending “will mean significant reallocations of funding from across Government departments”.
Concluding his letter, Sir Keir said: “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.”
SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan said: "Keir Starmer is putting Scotland's safety at risk by failing to deliver the vital defence investment that is needed in the face of growing international threats.
"The resignation of the UK Defence Secretary, at a time of global crisis, is utterly damning for the Prime Minister - and it will be the final nail in his sorry time in office.”
He added: "Yet again, the Labour government is in chaos - and it is putting Scotland and the UK's defence in jeopardy at the worst possible time.
"It is a disgrace that, for decades, successive Labour party and Tory governments have imposed Westminster austerity cuts on our defence and left us vulnerable. They have slashed our defence capabilities, decimated our armed forces, reduced our Scottish regiments, and left our brave personnel without the equipment and support they need.
"In the face of these Westminster cuts, the SNP has consistently led support for Scotland's armed forces - demanding more investment in our vital conventional defence capabilities and more support for our troops.
"There is no more time for excuses. The Labour government must deliver the urgent investment needed in our defence instead of breaking yet another promise and leaving the UK vulnerable.
"If Keir Starmer isn't capable of delivering the investment needed to keep us safe, then it makes it all the more important that he steps aside as Prime Minister without further delay."
Writing on social media, Scottish Conservative MP, John Lamont said: “Defending our country is the first duty of any government. Labour is simply not taking the current threats seriously.
“John Healey says he is ‘certain’ that a target for spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence in 2030 is needed but the settlement falls ‘well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time’.
“It is no surprise that he has resigned. He knows Starmer’s time as Prime Minister is up.”
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