The armed forces minister, Al Carns, has quit over the government’s defence spending plans.
He wrote on X: “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.”
Key events
-
Starmer says defence funding plan “will provide resources our military needs to keep us safe” in letter to Healey
-
Government ‘going backwards’ on military spending, says former general who co-wrote its defence review
-
Badenoch condemned by Lib Dems after she suggests Tories under her would prop up minority Reform UK government
-
Bell hotel in Epping, site of anti-migrant protests, now empty of asylum seekers, council says
-
Healey’s resignation – verdict from the commentariat
-
Labour’s defence policy ‘mired in unreality’ – thinktanks respond to Healey’s resignation
-
Italy’s defence minister tells Healey he agrees with ‘almost everything’ he has said
-
Wes Streeting praises Healey, and says ‘every word’ in his call for higher defence spending ‘needs to be heeded’
-
Two people arrested and fined after anti-migrant unrest in Greenock, Police Scotland says
-
Defence minister Al Carns says defence investment plan ‘not fit for purpose’, as he praises Healey’s ‘serious service’
-
Pippa Crerar on what Healey’s resignation means for Starmer
-
Unite’s leader Sharon Graham says Healey’s resignation shows work on defence investment plan has been ‘utter chaos’
-
Healey’s resignation ‘utterly damning’ for Starmer, says SNP
-
Badenoch claims Healey’s resignation shows Starmer’s premiership ‘falling apart’
-
Healey says he would have to take decisions that could make UK ‘less safe’ if he accepted PM’s defence plans
-
Healey says defence spending only set to rise to 2.68% of GDP by 2030 under proposed defence investment plan
-
Healey says spending increase in defence investment plan ‘falls well short of what is required’
-
Healey criticises Reeves for being ‘unwilling’ to fund defence by enough, and Starmer for being too weak to over-rule her
-
John Healey has resigned as defence secretary over Treasury refusing to give defence investment he says it needs
-
Irish and UK governments, and NI’s executive, agree to work together to ‘prevent abuse’ of common travel area
-
Burnham says Waspi women should get ‘some recompense’ – but later clarifies he’s not proposing financial compensation
-
Scottish councils face £500m shortfall in operating costs, spending watchdog says
-
Benn says 1,000 people removed from Northern Ireland over past year by immigration enforcement, and more raids planned
-
Badenoch apologises for Belfast knife attacker being granted asylum under 2023 Tory government
-
Gavin Robinson MP, DUP leader, said borders into the UK need “protecting” more
-
Hilary Benn accuses people of inciting disorder in Belfast after second night of unrest
Today’s Tif Latest podcast has dropped and is about John Healey resigning as defence secretary.
Sir Rich Knighton, the head of the armed forces, wrote to military personnel on Thursday evening after John Healey’s resignation said he looked forward to “welcoming our new defence secretary when they are announced”.
The chief of the defence staff also told members of the armed forces “to remain apolitical” and not be drawn into speculation about funding decisions “that are for ministers to make” in a message sent internally to all members of the armed forces.
In a letter to Keir Starmer, Pamela Nash, Labour MP for Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke, 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.”
Pamela Nash has resigned as parliamentary private secretary to John Healey, following his decision to quit as defence secretary in a dispute over funding for the armed forces, the Labour MP announced in a letter to the prime minister.
Healey is the fourth Cabinet minister to leave Starmer’s government since coming to power and the second to resign over policy differences after Wes Streeting quit as health secretary last month amid the fallout from Labour’s local election losses.
Healey is understood to have asked all other defence ministers to remain in their posts.
Defence minister Al Carns has said the amount of funding in the defence investment plan (Dip) “isn’t enough” for the armed forces.
Carns, who remains a defence minister after his boss John Healey quit, told Sky News: “I wasn’t in the defence investment plan, I saw it two weeks ago and when I saw it, I wasn’t happy with the level of transformation within it, particularly the lessons from Ukraine, uncrewed systems, automation and pulling those lessons into every section of our armed forces.
“I think there’s much more work to be done in that space, but then when you match that with a funding settlement as we move to 2030, it isn’t enough.”
Carns also signalled he would consider his position in government if the defence investment plan is not “right by the armed forces”.
Asked if he was considering his position, he said: “So, within the situation, I need to do what’s right by the armed forces, and if I don’t think that’s right, then I will absolutely consider my position, and from my perspective, at the moment, we have not closed with this deal.
“When we are closed with this deal, I will decide my position.”
Carns said he was “not expecting an offer” from No 10 to be the next defence secretary.
Aamna Mohdin
A monitoring group repeatedly warned the Police Service of Northern Ireland over the past eight months that anti-immigration activists were circulating the addresses of properties that were targeted in this week’s Belfast riots.
The Accountability Project Northern Ireland, a volunteer group formed last summer to monitor anti-immigration activity online, sent dozens of reports to the PSNI between November 2025 and June 2026.
They warned of a growing focus on houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) by anti-immigration and far-right people, something they first observed in August 2025.
The Guardian understands a so-called hitlist of addresses has been circulating among far-right groups since August 2025 and was sent to the PSNI in January 2026. The addresses were among the locations targeted during this week’s anti-immigration disorder.
Here is more of Starmer’s letter to Healey, who resigned earlier today, on Thursday evening.
“The world today is more dangerous and uncertain than at any point in our lifetimes. That requires a serious response to build our economic resilience and our national defences.
“We have achieved a great deal working together. We inherited a situation where our armed forces had faced years of underfunding and neglect. Our work leading the coalition of the willing on Ukraine, defending our Gulf allies, and working together with like-minded nations on a plan for the Strait of Hormuz has helped make the world more secure. I am proud of our record on funding. When we entered government in 2024, I took the decision to increase defence spending after the Conservatives hollowed out our armed forces. That required a cut to the international aid budget but the result was the highest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War. I will always do what is needed to keep our country safe. I thank you for your work to deliver on all of this.
“You are also right that we have to go further. 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.
“We are backing this with the necessary investment. The increases in spending that underpin this plan will be sustainable and fair. They will mean significant reallocations of funding from across government departments and the right choices to protect our nation.”
Starmer’s letter to Healey concludes: “Strong public finances are part of what keeps us safe – irresponsible borrowing only puts that at risk.
“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.”
Starmer says defence funding plan “will provide resources our military needs to keep us safe” in letter to Healey
Keir Starmer has insisted a key defence funding plan “will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe” in a letter to John Healey, who the prime minister said he was sorry to see resign as defence secretary.
Starmer added: “You are also right that we have to go further. The Defence Investment Plan does just that – delivering an unprecedented increase in defence spending in a sustainable way.”
Government ‘going backwards’ on military spending, says former general who co-wrote its defence review
Andrew Sparrow
General Sir Richard Barrons, one of the three experts who wrote the government’s 2025 defence review, has said John Healey’s resignation, and the decisions that prompted it, shows the government is “going backwards” on defence spending.
In a statement he said:
The SDR [strategic defence review] was clear that preparing for war in the 21st century is not simply about filling long-standing gaps in equipment, personnel or capability. It is about transformation: changing the way the UK thinks about, funds, organises and delivers defence.
Yet, a year after the SDR was agreed, the government has decided not to fully fund its own review. In doing so, it is not merely failing to move forward; it is actively going backwards.
It diminishes the UK’s standing within Nato, weakens our credibility with allies, and increases our vulnerability to the realities of 21st-century conflict. Allies and adversaries alike will be paying attention.
The government has, in effect, decided not to fund the defence review it commissioned and endorsed, because it prefers to spend money elsewhere. That is a political choice.
No one wants to spend more on defence for its own sake. But we are living in the world as it is, not the world as we would like it to be. We do not get to choose whether war matters. War can choose us, whether we prefer to ignore it or not.
Barrons, who was commander of Joint Forces Command until 2016, co-wrote the defence review with Lord Robertson, the former Nato secretary general, and Fiona Hill, a former White House intelligence expert.
That’s all from me for today. Nadeem Badshah is taking over now.
Badenoch condemned by Lib Dems after she suggests Tories under her would prop up minority Reform UK government
Kemi Badenoch has suggested that, if Reform UK were the largest party in the hung parliament, the Conservatives might enable Nigel Farage to run a minority government.
She dropped the hint in an interview with the Spectator’s political editor Tim Shipman, where she also ruled out a pre-election deal with Reform UK.
But when Shipman asked if she would rule out an arrangement with Reform UK after an election, Badenoch replied:
This country cannot have another leftwing government. This is the most leftwing parliament we have ever had.
Shipman interpreted this as a clear sign that Badenoch would keep a minority Reform UK government in power, for example by not voting against it on budget or confidence matters.
In response to the interview, Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said:
Kemi Badenoch just said the quiet bit out loud, the Conservatives are now openly planning to put Nigel Farage into Number 10.
This will put a shiver down the spine of millions of Conservative voters across the country who believe in British values of decency, tolerance and the rule of law.
In fact, Badenoch did not say “out loud” that she would prop up a Reform UK government and, when a politics account put a message on X saying she was suggesting a coalition with Farage, she posted a response describing that as “bullshit”. She also posted a clip from the interview.
In his own response, Shipman pointed out that she has edited the clip selectively. He said:
Kemi Badenoch has conveniently cut the question I asked her, which was directly relating to propping up Reform AFTER an election as an alternative to Labour plus some crazy lefties.
That’s when she said there must never be another left wing govt. Her ‘no, no, no…’ answer was about pacts BEFORE an election. It did not follow on directly.
Yes, she says Reform has some leftwing policies, but she made totally clear she would work with a party pursuing a ‘conservative’ agenda, which is clearly what Reform is mostly advocating.
The proof is that she says she is already in a casual arrangement with Rupert Lowe. The lady doth protest too much. It was very clear in the room what I was asking NO ONE, me or her, was talking about a coalition
Although Badenoch has accused Reform UK of being leftwing in some aspects, in most policy areas their approach is similar to the Conservatives’ and no serious commentator thinks they are anything other than a rightwing party.
In his write-up of the interview for the magazine, Shipman said:
Badenoch also gave the clearest answer to what I find the most tedious question in British politics: whether there will be a pact or deal between Reform and the Tories. The truth is obvious: there won’t be unless there needs to be, though that is more likely after a general election than before it.
Badenoch says the Tories could win and claims there is a ‘high chance’ she will become prime minister. But asked explicitly whether she would be prepared to put Farage into No 10 if he fell short of a majority, she made it clear the answer is yes: ‘This country cannot have another leftwing government.’
She ruled out standing down candidates or an arrangement to target resources so the two parties could focus on different seats, however. ‘We don’t need to do a pact … deals, non-aggression pacts. These things end up falling apart anyway.’ Instead, Badenoch implied she would accept a confidence and supply deal to ‘deliver a conservative agenda’.
The Spectator subsequently amended the online version of the article (presumably in response to a complaint) so that passage marked in bold above reads (new text in bold):
But asked explicitly whether she would be prepared to put Farage into No 10 if he fell short of a majority, she made it clear the answer is likely yes, as long as he pursues conservative policies.
The tweak does not alter the substantive point; Farage would pursue conservative policies.
Bell hotel in Epping, site of anti-migrant protests, now empty of asylum seekers, council says
Ben Quinn
Ben Quinn is a Guardian political correspondent.
All asylum seekers have been vacated from the Bell hotel in Essex, which became a flashpoint for anti-immigration protests last summer, according to local council authorities.
Only security staff remain onsite, Epping Forest district council said in a short statement which said it had been taken by surprise despite ongoing talks with the Home Office,
The hotel, which is on the outskirts of Epping, became the focus for increasingly large protests last summer.
While local people were among those involved, far-right activists and others from outside the area sought to exploit tensions after Hadush Kebatu, an asylum seeker who was living in the hotel, sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman.
Epping District council said in a statement:
We are aware that the Home Office has vacated all residents staying at The Bell hotel, Epping and that only security staff remain onsite.
Despite ongoing engagement with the Home Office, we did not know in advance that this was going to happen. We are seeking clarification from the Home Office on the details of what has happened and what their next steps will be.
It’s not clear if the move is permanent and the Home Office had yet to respond. However, local people who spoke to the Guardian today criticised the council for releasing the statement and said it was understood that the move may only be temporary.
The high court ruled in November that asylum seekers could continue to be housed at the Essex hotel.
Lawyers for the local district council had sought a permanent injunction against the current use of the Bell hotel in Epping, arguing at the high court that it was a “feeding ground for unrest and protest”.
Kebatu was deported in October to Ethiopia. But protests have intermittently continued outside the hotel, where two security guards were assaulted in what police described as a “racially motivated attack” during the summer.
Police were also attacked and made dozens of arrests as the protests spilled over into violence in July.
