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Armed forces minister quits after Healey exit as defence funding row deepens
TL;DR
The armed forces minister, Al Carns, has resigned following the departure of Defence Secretary John Healey over military funding disputes with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Both officials criticized the government's defence investment plan as inadequate.
Key points
- Al Carns resigned over military funding disputes
- John Healey also resigned, criticizing proposed spending
- Dan Jarvis appointed as new Defence Secretary
- Sir Keir Starmer defended the government's funding record
Mentioned in this story
Al CarnsJohn HealeySir Keir StarmerDan Jarvis
The armed forces minister has followed former Defence Secretary John Healey in quitting the government in a dispute with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over funding for the military.
Al Carns resigned on Thursday evening, writing to Sir Keir to tell him the government's defence investment plan (DIP) was "neither transformative enough nor sufficiently funded".
It came after Healey resigned in a scathing letter that said the level of military spending proposed by Sir Keir "falls well short" of what's needed to protect the country.
Dan Jarvis, the security minister and a former British Army officer, was appointed to replace Healey in the cabinet role on Thursday evening.
Sir Keir has yet to respond to Carns' exit. In his response to Healey's resignation, the prime minister said he was "proud of our record on funding", adding the defence funding plan "will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe".
Only an hour or so before his resignation, Carns had suggested he was willing to wait until the DIP was finalised before considering his position in government.
But shortly after strikingly candid interviews with Sky News and the BBC, he posted his resignation letter to X, writing he could not defend "a level of investment I know to be inadequate to the task".
Labour MP Pamela Nash has also quit as Healey's parliamentary assistant at the Ministry of Defence.
In her letter to the prime minister, Nash said "delays and difficulties with securing the necessary funding to progress the defence investment plan has been the latest issue that is damaging to the trust of the public in us".
The BBC understands Healey had asked other defence ministers to remain in post.
The resignations have left the government reeling and have further sapped the authority of Sir Keir, whose long-term future in Downing Street was already in doubt.
Healey's decision to quit is a particularly big blow to Sir Keir, given the former defence secretary was one of the prime minister's most loyal cabinet allies.
It also comes a week before a crucial by-election in which Labour candidate Andy Burnham is seeking a return to Westminster to enable him to challenge Sir Keir for the premiership.
Healey is the second cabinet minister to resign from Sir Keir's government in recent weeks, after Wes Streeting quit as health secretary having "lost confidence" in the PM's leadership.
Sir Keir has faced calls to resign within his own party following a poor set of election results in England, Scotland and Wales last month, although he has told supporters he will stand in any Labour leadership contest.
His new defence secretary Jarvis now faces the daunting task of helping Sir Keir finalise a defence investment plan that his predecessor had said "could make the country less safe" in its current form.
Q&A
Why did Al Carns resign from the government?
Al Carns resigned due to disagreements with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over the inadequacy of the government's defence investment plan.
What did John Healey say in his resignation letter?
John Healey stated that the proposed military spending falls well short of what is necessary to protect the country.
Who replaced John Healey as Defence Secretary?
Dan Jarvis, a former British Army officer, was appointed to replace John Healey as Defence Secretary.
How did Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer respond to the resignations?
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer expressed pride in the government's funding record and stated that the defence funding plan would provide necessary resources for the military.
