John Healey is reportedly going to shelve his own target of spending 3 per cent of Britain’s GDP on defence by 2030, an issue he resigned from Keir Starmer’s government over earlier this year.
In June, Healey quit as defence secretary over Starmer’s military spending plans, which he thought did not go far enough.
In his resignation letter at the time, he told the then-prime minister: “As we have regularly discussed, I am certain that a headmark date for 3 per cent of GDP on defence in 2030 is what Britain must set.”
After Starmer was replaced as Labour leader by Andy Burnham, Healey was appointed Chancellor in a move that many saw as a commitment to more spending on defence.
Healey has previously insisted that Britain should be spending 3% of its GDP on defence by the end of the decade, as part of efforts to reach Nato’s 3.5% target by 2035.
However, the Financial Times reports that Healey will shelve the 3% pledge amid financial constraints at the Treasury.
Government insiders told the publication Healey would focus on filling a defence equipment funding gap of nearly £5bn left behind by former prime minister Keir Starmer, amounting to about £1.2bn a year.
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But bigger decisions about an increase in defence spending will be delayed until a Treasury review has been completed next year.
A government figure told the FT Healey was still planning to hit the 3.5% Nato target by 2035.
Speaking to Sky News on Friday, the Chancellor said “fiscal discipline” was his “first priority” and that Burnham’s government “simply can’t deal with the problems we face as a country by maxing out the country’s credit card”.
When asked about the 3% defence spending pledge, he replied: “Fiscal discipline has been the bedrock of the government that I was part of for the first couple of years, as a Labour government since July 2024.”
“We build on that but it is not easy. It is not easy in a world in which you see global conflict, increasing dangers,” Healey added.
