Sir Keir Starmer is facing one of the most damaging internal critiques of his premiership so far, after senior Labour figures warned his leadership is under severe strain following the resignation of former defence secretary John Healey.
In unusually blunt interventions, veteran MPs and party grandees suggested the Prime Minister’s authority has been significantly weakened, with some questioning whether he can recover from the political fallout.
Harriet Harman, Labour’s former deputy leader, described Healey’s resignation as “a massive body blow”, arguing it struck at the heart of Starmer’s central claim to competence on national security.
She said the outgoing defence secretary’s warning — that government policy risked making the country less safe — was “devastating” for a Prime Minister who has repeatedly defined his leadership around the principle that protecting national security is the first duty of government.
“He has said the first duty of the Prime Minister is to keep the country safe,” she said. “What John Healey said in his resignation is that you are making the country less safe.”
Her comments reflect growing unease within Labour ranks over the political impact of the defence row, which has now triggered multiple resignations and a widening debate over spending priorities.
The criticism did not stop there.
Graham Stringer, the veteran Labour MP, delivered one of the most severe assessments yet, describing Starmer as a “dead Prime Minister walking” and suggesting his political authority was already in terminal decline.
“He didn’t have a future before and he certainly hasn’t got one now,” he said. “He will be remembered as an unpatriotic prime minister who did not take the decisions necessary to make this country’s military personnel safe.”
The language marks a significant escalation in internal party tensions, with senior figures now openly questioning not only policy choices but Starmer’s long-term viability as leader.
Former deputy leader Tom Watson also weighed in, warning that the Government was facing a deepening crisis of confidence among defence stakeholders.
“The defence establishment is angry, the budget is short and the government is wounded,” he said, in remarks that will add to pressure on Downing Street to stabilise the situation.
Meanwhile, Tan Dhesi, chair of the Commons Defence Committee, said internal briefings suggested the Government’s emerging defence spending plans were widely seen as insufficient.
He said Healey had recognised “the scale of the threats facing our country and the urgent need to strengthen our Armed Forces”, adding to the sense that senior figures are now aligning behind the outgoing minister’s assessment.
The growing dissent comes at a sensitive moment for Starmer, who has sought to position himself as a stabilising force in British politics and a firm supporter of NATO and Ukraine.
However, even previously supportive voices have begun to express unease at the direction of travel.
The political tension was underscored by comments from Cabinet minister Peter Kyle, who praised the Government’s defence investment plans but admitted he had not seen the full detail.
“I have not seen all of the plan,” he told BBC Breakfast, while insisting that once published it would demonstrate “a lot of effort into getting it right”.
The admission is likely to fuel further scrutiny over the coherence and timing of the Defence Investment Plan, which has already become a focal point of political dispute.
Taken together, the interventions suggest a widening divide between Downing Street’s public confidence and private concern within the party’s senior ranks.
For Starmer, the challenge is no longer simply managing policy disagreement over defence spending.
It is managing a growing perception that the political consensus around his leadership is beginning to fracture.
And in Westminster, once that perception takes hold, it rarely fades quietly.
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