Keir Starmer’s legacy has been ruined and his time in Number 10 is rapidly coming to an end, according to senior Labour figures. Harriet Harman, Labour’s former Deputy Leader, said the resignation of ex-defence secretary John Healey was “a massive body blow”. She said: “Keir Starmer himself has said the first duty of the Prime Minister is to keep the country safe. And what John Healey said in his resignation letters is you are making the country less safe, and that’s why it is so devastating.”
Speaking to Sky News, Baroness Harman said even Sir Keir’s critics had praised him for supporting Ukraine and backing NATO, but the Prime Minister’s reputation was now in ruins. It pulls the rug out from under his feet on what’s done aborad as well as the problems that he’s faced here at home.”
Veteran Labour MP Graham Stringer described Sir Keir as a “dead Prime Minister walking”. He said: “He didn’t have a future before and he certainly hasn’t got one now. He will be remembered as an unpatriotic prime minister who did not take the decisions necessary to make this country’s military personnel safe.”
Tom Watson, another former deputy leader who served as a defence minister, said: “The defence establishment is angry, the budget is short and the government is wounded.”
And Tan Dhesi, Labour chair of the Commons Defence Committee, said leaks suggested the Government’s defence spending plans, not yet officially announced, were “just not enough”.
He said Mr Healey had “understood the scale of the threats facing our country and the urgent need to strengthen our Armed Forces”.
But one Cabinet minister praised Sir Keir’s defence investment plan despite admitting he had not seen all of it.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle said: “When you see the plan, I think you’ll see that we’ve put a lot of effort into getting it right.”
However, he told BBC Breakfast: “I have not seen all of the plan.”