Dan Jarvis has been named as the new defence secretary, replacing John Healey.
Dan Jarvis has been named as the new defence secretary, replacing John Healey following his shock resignation this afternoon. Healey said the spending increase in defence investment plan “falls well short” of what is required”. He also criticised the chancellor Reeves for being unwilling to fund defence by enough,. the prime minister for being too weak to over-rule her. Healey added he was resigning because he did not think defence was getting enough. under these plans, he would have to take decisions that could make Britain “less safe”.
The armed forces minister, Al Carns, also 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. the loyalty to stand by them when it’s done. We are failing on both.”
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.”
General Sir Richard Barrons, one of the three experts who wrote the government’s 2025 defence review, has said John Healey’s resignation,. the decisions that prompted it, shows the government is “going backwards” on defence spending.
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.
A target of more than half of short urban journeys being walked or cycled within nine years has been announced by the government.
The Department for Transport (DfT)’s new cycling. walking investment strategy sets out an ambition for 55% of journeys under five miles to be made on foot or by bike in England’s towns and cities by 2035.
The current level is 48%, according to the department.
A target of 60% of children aged between five. 16 usually travelling to school by walking or cycling by the same year has also been created.
The government said it is projected to invest more than £4.5 billion in active travel over the next five years.
In partnership with DfT agency Active Travel England. local authorities, this will help deliver 5,000 new walking, cycling and wheeling routes, and 10,000 new road crossings connecting homes with schools, high streets and local services, both by 2030.
Luke Pollard has released a statement on social media confirming he is staying as the defence readiness minister.
Pollard, MP for for Plymouth Sutton & Devonport, wrote on X: “John Healey is a friend and a mentor. He is one of the most serious and decent public servants I know.
“I respect his decision to leave the government today, and I’m grateful for all he’s done for our nation.
“The threats the UK faces are real and they’re growing. We need to meet this moment.
“I’m staying on as a defence minister to play my part in getting this right.
“I know Dan Jarvis will give his all in the MoD as defence secretary as he did previously in uniform. I look forward to working with him to rearm and rebuild our forces.”
The US government has backed plans to keep a shipwreck’s “iconic” masts in the UK.
US ambassador to the UK Warren Stephens said Washington. London are trying to strike a deal to preserve the masts of the SS Richard Montgomery.
About 1,400 tons of explosives are aboard the American Liberty ship, which sank in the Thames Estuary almost 82 years ago. has remained off the coast of Sheerness, Kent, ever since.
Its masts are visible above the water line,. the Department for Transport (DfT) earlier this year announced a £9.5 million plan to remove them.
Labour MP Kevin McKenna previously launched a campaign to keep them in the UK.
A DfT spokesperson said: “These masts have been a landmark in the Thames Estuary for over 80 years.
“We are exploring options for the future of the masts with the US government, to remove them safely. to ensure the remarkable story lives on.”
Carns added: “For my own part, I will keep arguing for a politics rooted in resilience, seriousness and national renewal. For a country where working people can once again feel secure about the future. And for the service personnel and veterans this government still has a duty to.
“The deal this country makes with the people who serve it, in uniform, in classrooms, on building sites, is broken. I’m going to spend my time on the backbenches trying to fix it.
“I’ll keep fighting for the people I served with. I hope this government will too.”
In his resignation letter. Al Carns said: “Too many working people in this country feel insecure even when they are doing everything right. They work hard, contribute, pay their taxes and still feel one setback away from trouble. Public confidence in our institutions is weakening and politics increasingly looks performative while everyday life gets harder.
“The machinery of government itself has been left to decay. Decisions that should take days, take months. Departments fight each other instead of the problem. Officials and ministers who know the truth are not always rewarded for telling it. We are trying to govern a more dangerous world with processes designed for a calmer one,. the gap is now showing in the things that matter most.
“National resilience is about more than defence in the narrow sense. A strong country is not simply one with capable armed forces. It is one where working people feel economically secure, public services function, energy is resilient, communities are stable. young people can see a future worth working towards.”
On Dan Jarvis’s appointment, Keir Starmer said: “My first duty is to keep the British people safe,. I will always do what is necessary to protect our national security.
“I am pleased to appoint Dan Jarvis as defence secretary as we strengthen our armed forces. meet the growing threats facing our country.
“This Labour government is delivering the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War.
“In a dangerous. volatile world, we will give our armed forces the capabilities they need to defend Britain and keep our nation secure.”
Dan Jarvis has been named as the new defence secretary, replacing John Healey.
In his resignation letter, Al Carns called for a change in government.
double quotation mark If my resignation accelerates the transition towards resolution, then the impact will far outweigh the act. We need a new way of governing and we need it now.
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. the loyalty to stand by them when it’s done. We are failing on both.”
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”. 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. 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. 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,. our political opponents are both the provokers and the beneficiaries. If we cannot provide a strong vision for the UK’s future,. 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. we all worked so hard to get elected.
“I will continue to strive from the backbenches for the future my constituents in Motherwell, Wishaw,. Carluke deserve and I hope that our movement can come together to achieve this for people across the UK.”
Discussion
Sign in to join the thread, react, and share images.