John Healey is under pressure to meet the military spending target that sparked his resignation as Defence Secretary, amid reports that only a ‘down-payment’ will be given at the Budget.
The Chancellor helped bring down Keir Starmer when he quit in June, accusing the Treasury of being unwilling to find the money needed to keep the UK safe.
His resignation letter stated that the Government must reach three per cent spending of GDP on defence by 2030 – far more than the 2.68 per cent planned by Sir Keir.
But it is expected that the Chancellor will not set out a timetable to reach this until a spending review next autumn, with only a ‘down-payment’ in his maiden Budget, according to The Spectator.
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said although Mr Healey was now the one in charge of the country’s finances, Britain was ‘no closer to hitting the target he said was essential’. He added: ‘The Chancellor absolutely has to set out his plan for 3 per cent in the Budget – anything less would be a dereliction of duty.’
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said if Mr Healey ‘cannot do this job, then he should resign’.
The comments come as new polling revealed almost half of Brits support cutting benefits in order to boost defence spending.
A Savanta survey – conducted ahead of Mr Healey’s first Budget next week – found 44 per cent are in favour of slashing welfare payments so that more cash can be given to the Armed Forces.
Chancellor John Healey is under pressure to meet the military spending target that sparked his resignation as Defence Secretary
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said if Mr Healey ‘cannot do this job, then he should resign’
This compares to one third (34 per cent) who oppose squeezing benefits in order to increase the Ministry of Defence budget.
Cutting welfare payments was one of five options for finding more money for defence that was given to voters in the poll.
Nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) support a reduction in foreign aid spending, but there was little backing for more borrowing, higher taxes, or cuts to public services.
Almost half (47 per cent) oppose an increase in government borrowing, while 64 per cent don’t want taxes to rise to fund greater defence spending.
Meanwhile, 75 per cent don’t want spending on public services such as the NHS, schools or police to be reduced.
Support for cutting foreign aid reaches 81 per cent among those who voted Tory at the 2024 general election, and 85 per cent among Reform UK voters.
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Seven in 10 (70 per cent) of Tory voters also support welfare cuts to boost defence spending, while 64 per cent of Reform voters back a squeeze on benefits.
This compares with just 39 per cent of Labour voters wanting welfare spending to be cut in order to give more money to the Armed Forces.
When asked separately whether they are personally willing to pay more tax to allow an increase in defence spending, 62 per cent of all voters are unwilling.
This compares to less than one third (30 per cent) who are willing to pay extra to HMRC so that more cash can go to the military.
When asked about the level of tax they currently pay, 43 per cent think they pay too much tax, while the same proportion say they pay the right amount of tax.
Only 2 per cent say they pay too little tax, while 12 per cent don’t know.
Mr Healey is set to detail how the Government will pay for a £4.7billion hole in current defence spending plans at next week’s Budget.
But he is not expected to lay out a path to spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence by 2030 – or 3.5 per cent by 2035 – despite him resigning as defence secretary from Keir Starmer’s administration over the issue earlier this year.
Mr Healey is instead expected to wait to do so until a spending review next year.
Earlier this week, Ms Badenoch branded a delay in setting out how defence funding will increase as ‘unconscionable’ amid the threat posed by Russia.
‘If, at this Budget, he does not find the money to get to 3 per cent, John Healey has an awful lot of explaining to do,’ she said.
‘Britain is at risk. John Healey said so himself, and no amount of political difficulty should prevent us from responding to that risk.’
Savanta polled 2,130 UK adults online between 16 and 19 October.
