Britain's Defence Secretary John Healey has quit — and he did it just hours before he was meant to sit down with Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles to talk about AUKUS.
Healey resigned on Thursday, local time, saying he had "no other option" after discovering the government wouldn't commit enough cash to defence. His letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer was blunt: "You have 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."
Armed Forces Minister Al Carns and Labour MP Pamela Nash also walked out, deepening the crisis. The resignations confirm a cabinet split over whether to hike defence spending and find savings in welfare to pay for it.
The timing couldn't be worse for Australia. Marles was in Portsmouth for a meeting with Healey to push forward the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine project. Healey had been seen as a steady hand on defence and a strong supporter of the alliance. Just a day earlier, at a meeting in London with Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Healey had talked up his commitment to AUKUS, saying submarines were a "personal priority" for him.
Now he's gone. Marles visited naval facilities in Portsmouth but cancelled a planned press conference. Australian journalists who had flown in for the event were left waiting.
The resignation comes as the UK already faces a leadership crisis. Former health secretary Wes Streeting quit the cabinet last month over frustrations with Starmer and has declared he'd stand for leader. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is tipped to launch a formal challenge if he wins a by-election next week for the seat of Makerfield. A recent poll of Labour Party members found 59 per cent would choose Burnham over Starmer in a head-to-head contest.
Healey's departure also raises serious questions about Britain's ability to deliver on AUKUS. The project — a trilateral pact with the US and Australia — aims to build a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines using a common design. But there are already deep concerns that British shipbuilders are moving too slowly. Healey himself acknowledged the problem on Wednesday, saying: "You don't turn that around, you don't fix that overnight."
Now the man driving that fix is gone. The UK government hasn't named a replacement. For Australia, which is banking on AUKUS to modernise its navy, this is a major headache — and a reminder that the alliance depends on political stability in London, which right now is in short supply.