John Healey’s resignation is an intervention to ensure the next Labour leader is a prisoner of the military industrial complex, writes John Rees

John Healey’s resignation as defence secretary is the military industrial complex announcing its programme for the next Labour leader. This is no run-of-the-mill ‘spend more time with the family’ departure. It’s a targeted attack by the core of the political establishment on the Labour Party’s selection of is next leader. With Andy Burnham still favourite to win the Makerfield by-election next week, everyone knows a Labour leadership election will start soon, perhaps very soon. 

Healey was the Ministry of Defence’s man in the Cabinet, a hardline Nato enthusiast, a Russophobic right-winger. He has previously said he’d like to run for Labour leader.

Starmer has been making noises about hanging on and contesting any challenge. But Healey has finished Starmer, and possibly Chancellor Rachel Reeves, in a sweeping accusation that both are unwilling to push through massive hikes in arms spending (despite last week’s announcement that every government department will have to cut an additional 1 percent from spending to fund the arms spending increases).

Healey is unlikely to win any leadership contest, and he may not even need to run. His intervention has already mobilised the phalanxes of Generals, Spooks, Telegraph editorial writers and their BBC echo-chamber to ensure the mainstream political spectrum shifts to a place where denying the need to increase arms spending will look like PR suicide if not outright treason. 

So whoever does win the Labour leadership, most likely Burnham, will be a prisoner of the military industrial complex and have to make supportive noises about European rearmament and the project to militarily confront Russia. 

That means there will be little meaningful shift even to the mildest of centre-left policies.

Indeed, many Labour supporters may now fear an increasing likelihood that the next Labour leader could even be worse than Starmer and that the government will embrace the same death spiral as the last Tory government. It will continue to alienate its supporters and Reform and the far right will continue to attempt to fill that vacuum.

In the face of this prospect the International Anti-war Conference next week is vital. Arms spending is the issue of the age. The entire anti-war and trade union movement needs to demand an end to the war-mongering and war-driven austerity. We need wages not weapons, welfare not warfare, and we need to organise to get it now. Get along to the international anti-war conference next Saturday 20 June.

Reposted from Stop the War