Chancellor wants military officer with him at Treasury

Britain’s new chancellor John Healey has asked for a military officer to accompany him at the Treasury, it has emerged.

The move indicates how much weight Healey will place on weapons procurement after resigning as defence secretary last month in protest at Keir Starmer’s military spending plans.

Chancellors do not normally have a serving military officer assigned to their private office, with the placements typically reserved for the prime minister and defence ministers.

However, Healey has requested an army major, naval lieutenant commander or air force squadron leader join his top Treasury team for at least the next six months.

The role of Military Assistant to the Chancellor has existed before but not with this level of access.

Defence chief Sir Richard Knighton has signed off on the request, according to an email seen by Declassified .

A Whitehall source said the move risked blurring the line between civil and military departments of state.

It could also weaken oversight of the Ministry of Defence’s notoriously expensive procurement projects, with parliament’s public accounts committee already critical of the department’s “ opaque nuclear spending ”.

The Treasury has traditionally acted as a check on the MoD’s most ambitious spending programmes that often end up over budget and behind schedule.

It is unclear if experts from other government departments like health or education will be invited to join Healey’s staff.

According to The Times , Healey made his request for a military assistant “on day one in the role as chancellor”.

A source close to that newspaper said: “It signals Healey’s commitment that national security and economic security are inseparable, and his determination to meet the UK’s defence commitments to allies.”

‘Broken system’

However, Khem Rogaly, co-director of Transition Security Project , told Declassified the appointment was “extremely concerning”.

Rogaly said: “Stationing a military officer at the Treasury will increase pressure to cut other areas of government spending to fund the soaring military budget. Cuts to fund the Defence Investment Plan were targeted at net zero during a summer of unprecedented heatwaves and severe droughts.

“These cuts meant that the £15 billion added to the military budget will lead to net job losses in the UK. Further cuts will be deeply unpopular and damage the economy, taking money from schools and hospitals to fund a notoriously wasteful military.

“It should not escape the Treasury’s attention that military spending is one of the worst forms of public investment for jobs and growth. Military largesse is an extremely damaging economic strategy.

“The Ministry of Defence’s existing plan to increase military spending pours money into a broken system that already loses billions every year to cancelled contracts and fraud.

“Despite the claim that more military spending is needed for national defence, the Defence Investment Plan commits Britain to military engagement in the Middle East, Indo-Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Caucuses.”

The Treasury declined to comment, despite requesting and being granted an extra day to prepare a response.

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