Starmer’s lies on defence started with the Tories – neither are fit to resolve it

THANK GOODNESS for the respite! No matter how important it is that we get to the bottom of the SNP’s financial scandal (and it is important) it was set to become a form of nationalist water torture, as the repetitive drowning in fresh revelations, the sentencing, and the recovery of monies will run and run, exhausting us all.

So two cheers for John Healey giving us some distraction by deciding to resign as Secretary of State for Defence over Keir Starmer’s latest recipe for two-tier dishonesty. The Prime Minister tells the public, tells Trump, tells the world that defence and security are the most important responsibilities of any government – and that he will be increasing government spending to match the challenge. He implies, such is his leadership and foresight, that he is setting an example for others to follow.

He tells his Cabinet this week that after nearly a year’s delay since the publication of the Strategic Defence Review, and many internal debates with individual Cabinet members – not least the Chancellor – he has decided upon the spending totals for the Defence Investment plan, having revealed them to John Healey only on Monday afternoon. Downing Street apparently wanted to rush its release, but Healey wanted time to consider it and concluded he could not live with it. Tim Shipman explains it vividly in The Spectator here as does The Telegraph here.

The state of Britain’s defences is shocking, and it is the responsibility of the uniparty – consciously running down our armed forces and making key errors of judgment, not least the fixation with trying to ride two horses: being a leading NATO member while also seeking to tag-team with inadequate EU member defence planning. To understand the scale of the problem, Patrick Benham-Croswell’s article on ThinkScotland is well worth a read.

Starmer’s Government is riddled with the woodworm of the Prime Minister’s deceit

And while John Healey has brought the crucial issue of defence to the fore by having the guts to resign over the principle of inadequate spending compared to the extravagant claims made by Starmer (an increase of just 0.08 per cent from 2027 to 2030), Patrick is also right to argue that John Healey had more than enough time to change the ethos at the MoD. He then could have cut back on the many examples of defence extravagance so funds could be redeployed to more important uses. That failure is why I say only “two cheers” for Healey.

That said, Healey has put himself in the position of being a possible dark horse alternative to Streeting or Rayner for the Labour leadership if Burnham does not win the Makerfield by-election. He may be a reluctant suitor for the position but, if he’s that concerned about his country’s future, then who knows where that journey might take him? Many a politician has changed course because of a clamour by colleagues who see a leader in the making.

What this latest resignation from Starmer’s Government tells us is that it is an administration riddled with the woodworm of Starmer’s deceit; not just blatant falsehoods to international leaders (which they reply to with their own fabrications), not just lies to parliament and the public (who can do very little about it until there is a general election), but even lies told to each other in Cabinet – until the contradictions can no longer be contained in secret as a looming announcement demands a very public decision.

So then we have a reckoning. Some no doubt accept defeat and take the punishment of being told how to run their ministry on a budget decided by the treasury but fronted by Rachel Reeves. Now John Healey has shown that Starmer’s lies risk more than the Prime Minister’s reputation, they risk our safety and our liberty and it has to be exposed so it can be deplored.

The Conservatives are making hay with the resignation, and yet so much of what is wrong with our armed forces’ abilities – or lack of the – is entirely of their making while in office. The delays in placing orders, the cutting back of orders, the procurement fiascos – and so much more. In truth, the Tories have been telling porkies about defence too. In some ways that is worse, because their pronouncements were given the benefit of doubt on the false assumption that they can be trusted more with our armed forces. We now know that could not be further from the truth.

Pity then, that Reform UK has not resolved to have a specific authoritative defence spokesman speaking with credibility based upon experience in a related field. Unveiling that appointment at the forthcoming Reform UK conference in September would still be time enough to strengthen the leadership team and lay out why neither Labour nor the Conservatives can ever be trusted with our country’s defence again.