Back in 2023, then-Defence Secretary Ben Wallace remarked that it's “always an uphill battle with the Treasury.”

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As he pushed for a small increase in defence spending in that year’s budget, there was speculation that Number 11’s reluctance to invest in Britain’s Armed Forces would ultimately force his resignation.

Now it is John Healey - widely regarded as one of the Prime Minister’s most loyal allies - who has reached his tether. In his resignation letter, Healey wrote that the Prime Minister has been unable, “and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats.”

His frustration is completely justified. The Treasury has been seeking to water down the UK’s commitment to NATO’s spending........

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