The United Kingdom is a frontline nation already in conflict with Russia at sea, in the air and in cyberspace, and the government must wake up to that reality in the wake of John Healey’s resignation as Defence Secretary, Labour MP Graeme Downie has said.
Downie, the MP for Dunfermline and Dollar, gave the comment to the UK Defence Journal on Thursday after Healey quit the Cabinet over the funding settlement behind the Defence Investment Plan, which the outgoing Defence Secretary said fell well short of what the country requires at a dangerous time.
“The British people must be informed of the scale of the imminent threats we are facing,” Downie said. “The UK is a frontline nation already in a conflict with Russia at sea, in the air and in cyberspace.” It was time, he said, that government “woke up to that reality as well”, confronting the difficult decisions needed to “increase our capabilities immediately”, with a plan to fund them properly for the long term, “not by the kind of last minute rushed decisions we have seen reported in recent days.”
The Dunfermline and Dollar MP paid tribute to the outgoing Defence Secretary while delivering an unvarnished verdict on the plan he resigned over. Healey, he said, had “worked incredibly hard to support our service personnel” and the armed forces more widely, “but the DIP has clearly not been fit for purpose”, leading to the United Kingdom “falling behind our allies on progress and losing global leadership.” The top of government, he added, “has taken too long to sort this out.”
“I am very sad to see John leave government,” Downie said, “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.”
The intervention is an early signal of how Healey’s departure is likely to play on the Labour benches, with the criticism of the Defence Investment Plan coming not from the opposition but from a government MP. Healey resigned on Thursday after being shown the full financial settlement behind the plan on Monday afternoon, writing to the Prime Minister that the money was backloaded, would reach just 2.68 per cent of GDP by 2030, and would force decisions that “could make the country less safe.”
Downing Street has yet to name a successor, with the Defence Investment Plan due to have been published before the NATO summit.
Will be interesting to see how the remaining Minsters of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretaries at the MoD…
Luke Pollard
Lord Coaker
Louise Sandher-Jones
Al Carns
How they react
(2026 and no edit function 🤦🏻♂️)
There will be no reaction from them, they are all career politicians.
Right… you think a former SBS Colonel is a “career politician” 😂
Spock,
Exactly the comment I planned to post. Live long and prosper… 😉
🖖🏻
Well said Graeme. The DIP has not been fit for purpose, the entire strategic defence review instituted by Starmer and Robertson has been a total nonsense.
Remember we are supposing to be having missile launchers on the deck of the Queen Elizabeth class shortly according to Robertson’s review.
The entire exercise has been a national embarrassment carried out by well meaning idiots. I include in that all three authors as well as the Prime minister who commissioned it.
The strategic defence review should never have been two documents.
It’s always two documents, by my understanding.
The headline grabber when the spin is broadcast for maximum effect.
Then the White Paper with the grubby details which most miss.
The 97 SDSR was no different, that wasn’t funded either, yet was seen as “good.”
Good scoop, George. He’s not mincing his words
Suddenly defence of Great Britain is making the type of headlines that should have been occupying Parliament through out the Mandelson furory. Maybe now the Labour Party can join ranks and put the DIP mess to bed in short order. A one-year cessation of government spending in education, transport and civil programmes could be one way to inject urgent money into defence backed up with a public awareness campaign in the press and media that clearly explains the necessity to make industrial investments in defence. The Treasury should be given firm guidance on where the focus on our forces is required and be given the green light to proceed. Once the one-year spending moratorium is completed, a valuation period should follow before normal budget allocations are reinstated.
Starmer said yesterday that anyone in his cabinet that supports Burnham might exit, the next day the Def sec leaves quoting undisclosed dip expenditure, after months and months of discussing it. Coincidence me think not
If the DIP committed the level of funding that the armed forces need and that the PM had previously committed to achieving within this parliament then there would be no grounds to justify his resignation. But it doesn’t. Ultimately the blame lies with Starmer for pursuing (yet another) logically nonsensical outcome.
I don’t disagree with that, I just disagree that he resigned because of it
The DIP problem in a nutshell:
‘Ed Miliband is resisting pressure from Sir Keir Starmer to cut his Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s capital budget by at least 1%, which could redirect over £600m to defence. The Prime Minister’s team is reportedly eyeing deeper cuts to net zero spending, including £9bn for carbon capture, to help finance the Defence Investment Plan (DIP). Miliband’s stance is seen as undermining the defence funding effort’
As someone remarked, what is the point of energy ‘security’ from renewables if you cannot defend renewable energy sites?
It is kicking off again in the Gulf big time, the war in Ukraine shows no sign of abating and Britain is footling around behind the sofa in an attempt to fund yet more dotty windmills…
Indeed. If the entire budget allocated to Miliband’s decarbonisation obsession was reallocated to defence then we would be able to fund our forces reasonably well without having to make any meaningful cuts to public service provision or raise taxes. But we can’t do that because it would be sensible.
We also now have 550,000+ civil servants doing the jobs of 380,000 as recently as 2019.
And we know that this government is only interested in finding more ways to tax the country in order to fund yet further increases in welfare spending.
No wonder the entire country is disappointed and upset (at best).
A lot more civil servants because of Brexit. People forget how much work the EU did on our behalf that had to be done instead by us independently. Such as trade deals, etc. People that voted for Brexit are responsible for the mess we are in.
Independent analysis has put the long term damage at anywhere between 6 and 12% of our GDP, imagine that money flowing into the NHS and defence
We sadly enter Zombie Government phase. Unfit for purpose in a very dangerous world. Government that proscribes a bunch of lefty Palestinian supporters. but fails to proscribe the IRGC. Obsessed with welfare, illegals and more control over the indigenous populations civil liberties. A bunch of failed lawyers, political flotsam and no hopers. One could go on of course but why point out the obvious?
Putin of course is laughing, as I guess most other countries leaders are. I now ask myself, along with several veteran friends, “why did we bother”.
I am no Trump fanboy, he is a total arse. However Vance, at times, talks pure common sense about the UK and Europe. All to look forward to? The total demise of the two party system in the UK.
It wasn’t great under the Tories, but it’s a wonder what being in Opposition does to you when it comes to spending…
I dunno what to say, but when Change means nothing and the “Biggest Defence Spending Increase” in years means moving some Intelligence Budgets from the Home Office and FCDO, to the MoD.
Whilst we have money, being a G7 and a £2,000,000,000,000/annum GDP tax revenue. Defence is needed, we’ve underinvested in it for decades and we’ve played loose too long and this CapEx is needed for a few years to commit to new planes, new ships, new buildings, hell, new uniforms.
Well, That’s the end of Labour then.
Oh dear Never Mind 😂