John Healey resigns as Defence Secretary: Instant reaction

Former Defence Secretary Lord Hutton and LBC’s Natasha Clark join Shelagh Fogarty to make sense of John Healey’s surprise resignation. In a damning letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Healey said he was left with "no option" but to step down from the role. The letter criticised Sir Keir Starmer’s unwillingness to commit enough resources to defence, highlighting the growing resources required amid the Iran war, threats from Russia in the High North, and escalation in the Ukraine conflict. Accusing the PM of failing to properly fund the Defence Investment Plan (DIP), Mr Healey said the current proposal "does not give our Forces the investment they need". As part of the two-page letter, Mr Healey outlined "the scale of the challenge" facing Britain, admitting: "I'm being forced to make decisions that would reduce the readiness of our Forces and increase the risk to personnel on operations, and could make the country less safe." #shelaghfogarty #keirstarmer #ukpolitics #uknews #news #defence #russia #nato #lbc