UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that he was unable to…

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that he was unable to increase the defense budget following the resignation of Defense Secretary John Healey, stating that no additional funds could be found for British armed forces.

Consensus

• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer could not increase the defense budget beyond the existing 13.5 billion pounds
• Defense Minister John Hiley resigned due to dissatisfaction with defense spending
• Starmer acknowledged taking 'tough decisions' to strengthen the armed forces, including cutting foreign aid and reducing other government department budgets
• New Defense Secretary Dan Jarvis is currently reviewing the investment plan

Points of divergence

• Starmer previously committed to increasing defense spending to 3% of GDP by 2029 — kommersant
• The resignation of Hiley and the Minister of Armed Forces El Carns was due to disagreement with the defense funding plan — vedomosti
• Parliamentary private secretaries of four ministers also resigned and urged Starmer to step down — vedomosti