John Healey to duck meeting UK defence spending target in budget

Roadmap for increasing department’s share of GDP will be deferred until next year’s review

The chancellor will delay setting out when the UK will meet the target of allocating 3% of GDP on defence until next year’s spending review, the Treasury has confirmed.

John Healey resigned as defence secretary in June under Keir Starmer’s leadership, accusing the prime minister of being “unable” and the Treasury “unwilling” to “commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country”.

However, since succeeding Rachel Reeves following Andy Burnham’s arrival at No 10, Healey has declined to set a date for meeting the 3% target, which he had previously insisted should be hit by 2030.

Treasury sources confirmed that instead, the focus in Healey’s first budget on 28 October, would be fully funding the defence investment plan.

The three-year DIP was one of Starmer’s final announcements – but about £1.2bn a year was left unaccounted for, with Healey’s predecessor Reeves suggesting the money would have to be found through cuts in other Whitehall departments.

The Treasury confirmed on Friday that there would be no further detail about the timeline in the budget. A spending review is expected to be held next year but no date has yet been set.

A government spokesperson said: “The first duty of government is to keep its citizens safe. The prime minister and chancellor are committed to fully funding the defence investment plan. At the spending review we will set out a pathway to meet our Nato commitment of 3.5% of GDP on defence by 2035 and will set a target date to hit 3% on that path.”

Defence spending is on track to reach 2.7% of GDP by 2030, funded partly by Starmer’s decision to cut the UK’s aid spending.

Healey had previously said that this figure should rise to 3% urgently, given the growing global conflicts and security risks. He wrote in his resignation letter to Starmer in June : “As we have regularly discussed, I am certain that a headmark date for 3% of GDP on defence in 2030 is what Britain must set.” So far, the prime minister, Burnham, has refused to commit to the 3% target.

In an interview with Sky News on Friday, Healey said fiscal discipline was the “first priority” for any chancellor.

“It’s the bedrock for economic stability,” he said. “We simply can’t deal with the problems we face as a country by maxing out the country’s credit card.”

The chancellor will fly to North Carolina this weekend for a meeting of G20 finance ministers, chaired by the US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent.

Healey and his colleagues will discuss the prospects for global growth, against the backdrop of continued high energy prices, volatile government bond markets and the US-Canada trade war.