John Healey’s reverse ferret on defence spending is a betrayal of Britain
A rose has fallen from John Healey's chaplet as he prepares for his first Budget as Chancellor.
Previously, as Secretary of State for Defence, he resigned when it became clear to him former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the Treasury would not be able to honour their commitment to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030.
Now in an astonishing volte-face, U-turn, or reverse ferret, however you might choose to describe it, Healey now says he cannot commit to the figure he previously resigned over either.
And not a hint of shame or embarrassment about it either.
We are entitled to ask what the thought process has been behind this change of direction, but we are unlikely to get a direct answer, so we can only speculate.
Now he is Chancellor, have the realities of Britain’s finances forced him to realise his petulant resignation was on shaky intellectual ground, or was it a cynical move on the promise of promotion when Starmer gave way to Burnham?
Whichever of those reasons it might have been, it is bad news for the defence of the realm and our armed forces.
We are constantly being told that we’re in a “pre-war” era and we are already under attack from Russia.
Maybe not all-out conventional warfare, but sub-conflict activity – cyber attacks, mapping out undersea cables and communications for future action, sponsorship of civil disorder – but the Labour government is unwilling and unable to take any action.
Essentially, the message being transmitted to the Kremlin is that if they do intend to attack the UK, then now would be a good time to do it.
Raising defence spending to 3 per cent by 2030 is just not good enough.
It needs to happen as soon as possible, and the only way I see it being done is for the Government to change its priorities.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
- Mel Stride axed as Shadow Chancellor as Kemi Badenoch names replacement in mega Cabinet reshuffle
- Priti Patel quits Kemi Badenoch's top team as Tom Tugendhat named shadow foreign secretary
- Pupils urged to debate 'polarising' British Empire in new charity project
That the UK's welfare budget is six times the defence budget is a stark warning.
If you believe, as I do, that the first priority of any state is the defence of its national interests and its citizenry, then we have clearly got the balance wrong.
The other option is, of course, to raise general taxation to fund the armed forces.
Can you see a Labour government being keen to take this option? No, me neither.
I find myself increasingly in agreement with my friend Colonel Tim Collins, he of pre-battle speech fame before leading his battalion into Iraq in 2003.
In a recent conversation he opined only a military defeat of calamitous proportions will persuade our politicians of the seriousness of the situation – and by then it may well be too late.
Healey’s betrayal should be seen against that background.
How he can now continue as Chancellor defies comprehension.
And yet, such is the lack of moral fibre inside the Labour Party; he probably will.
O tempora, o mores!
Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
