Healey Resignation Shows Britain Is Broke and Defenseless

By Richard Palmer • June 11, 2026

Britain is vulnerable because the government is not spending enough on its military, Defense Minister John Healey said as he handed in his resignation today.

He told Prime Minister Keir Starmer, “[Y]ou 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.”

Britain is running out of money: Britain’s tax burden is at the highest level since the immediate aftermath of World War ii—and still rising.

Roughly one quarter of total government spending goes to pensions and benefits. “Every meeting I have is ‘who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others,’” wrote disgraced Labour grandee Lord Peter Mandelson in a leaked text.
Almost 10 percent of the budget goes to pay interest on the national debt.
That leaves little money for defense spending.

Britain’s government is probably close to the maximum revenue it can get from taxation. It can, of course, raise taxes further, but this would harm the economy even more and actually reduce total tax revenue.

More spending on defense, then, would have to come from cuts to other parts of the budget—and the government has consistently ruled out cuts to pensions and other welfare benefits, including such wastage as providing free cars to disabled people.

Britain will probably have a new prime minister in a few weeks. Challenges to Starmer’s leadership have been paused while Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham runs for Parliament. After his by-election on June 18, a leadership challenge will be held.

Healey is widely respected in the Labour Party, as a principled, long-standing M.P. who has not aligned himself with any of Labour’s major factions. His resignation makes it even less likely that Starmer will survive.

Ousting Starmer won’t solve Britain’s economic problems. Nationwide sin is at the root of out-of-control spending, which leaves no money for keeping the country safe. Learn more in “Britain’s Economy Is a Sick Joke.”