Camilla Tominey has grilled a Labour MP over Chancellor John Healey’s apparent U-turn on his previous demand for an increase in defence spending.
The former Defence Secretary resigned in June after arguing that the Government was failing to provide the resources needed to meet Britain’s security commitments.
In his resignation letter, he said then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer had been unable, while then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves was “unwilling”, to commit the necessary resources.
Mr Healey had argued that defence spending should reach three per cent of GDP in 2030, yet appears to have reneged on that now serving as Andy Burnham’s Chancellor.
He is now said to be deferring a decision on the target until next year’s spending review.
Camilla was keen to press Labour MP Andrew Lewin on the Chancellor’s apparent U-turn.
“Don’t you regard him as our audience will as a giant hypocrite?” she asked.
“How do you think your constituents in Welwyn Hatfield are going to react to the idea that a man who resigned, literally saying, ‘We’ve got to hit the three per cent target, or we can’t keep Britain safe from Russia’, has now gone into the Treasury (and is not providing that money)?
Camilla Tominey grilled Labour MP Andrew Lewin over John Healey’s apparent U-turn on defence spending
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“He’s got himself a nice promotion. He’s now second in line to the throne. Your constituents will think that this guy is a charlatan.”
Mr Lewin rejected the characterisation, but admitted that a final decision on defence spending had not yet been made.
“We’ll see what happens when Parliament returns,” he said.
“We set the date for the Budget for the end of October. That’s important. We have to make sure that the defence plan is well funded.”
Mr Healey previously resigned as Defence Secretary over lack of defence funding | GETTY / X / JOHN HEALEY
Undeterred, Camilla asked: “John Healey’s proved to be a complete and utter hypocrite, hasn’t he?”
The Labour MP shot back: “It’s just not a characterisation that I would accept.”
“I’d say he’s less than two months into his role. It’s a crucial role.”
Mr Lewin further deflected the claims of hypocrisy, arguing that Labour had already significantly increased defence spending.
‘This government has increased defence spending,’ Mr Lewin insisted
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“This government, which I’ve been a part of for the last couple of years, has increased defence spending,” he said.
“It is now higher than at any point than it was under 14 years of the Conservatives in office.”
“And that is a really important starting point. It’s absolutely right that we’ve done that with the threats that we face from Putin and in a more unstable world,” he said.
“We’ve made a commitment to go further.”
Camilla also asked whether Labour needed to make difficult choices in addressing Britain’s ballooning welfare spending and divert funds to defence.
Mr Lewin admitted there needed to be a “big conversation” about reforming the welfare system.
“We do need to have a big conversation about welfare reform, and I’ve no doubt that that is coming in this parliamentary session,” he said.