It is only six weeks or so since the then defence secretary, a widely-respected figure by the name of John Healey, told the not-so-widely-respected prime minister at the time, Sir Keir Starmer, that “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”. As we can now sense, Mr Healey’s move was the last stage in the process of defenestration initiated by Wes Streeting’s earlier decision to quit the government, and the fatal intervention of Andy Burnham at the Makerfield by-election.
Well, times change, and in somewhat strange ways so far as the defence of the realm is concerned. At the time he left the Starmer administration, Mr Healey’s demand was clear and precise. As he told the Commons: “Britain must set the headmark of spending 3 per cent on defence in 2030 and a clear path to 3.5 per cent in 2035 – the commitment all Nato nations have made to each other and to their people. I believe that this would command wide cross-party support.”
