To lose one defence minister might be regarded as misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness. Al Carns has followed John Healey out of the door at the Ministry of Defence tonight, firing off a two-page letter that makes his disagreements with Keir Starmer clear. The only mystery about Carns’s resignation was why it didn’t come sooner. ‘It’s surprising he’s lasted this long,’ says one Labour aide.
The only mystery of Carns’s resignation was why it didn’t come sooner
Unlike Healey, Carns is neither a Treasury man nor a Labour loyalist. Appointed as the veterans’ minister within days of his election as an MP, Carns, a distinguished former Royal Marines officer, has long signalled his profound discomfort at the direction of government policy when it comes to two areas. The first is the prosecution of veterans who served in Northern Ireland. The second is the painfully slow process at which defence expenditure is increasing. He was first reported to be on resignation watch in July 2025.
Carns expands on both reasons in his letter.
‘We owe those who serve the UK the kit to do the job and the loyalty to stand by them when it’s done’, he writes. ‘We are failing on both.’ No parliamentarian knows that more than Carns, who was awarded the Military Cross during one of his five tours of Afghanistan. He warns ‘the character of conflict is changing faster than our procurement can keep up with’. The long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP) ‘is not built for the threat we face’ and ‘is neither transformative enough nor sufficiently funded… we are asking our Armed Forces to operate in a more dangerous world on a budget written for a calmer one.’ Carns finishes the letter by saying he will ‘keep fighting for the people I served with’ and hopes the government will do the same.
The government though, is unlikely to do so, given the precarious position Keir Starmer now finds himself in. Several Labour MPs suggest that, were it not for the Makerfield by-election next Thursday, moves would already have begun against Starmer. Both Healey and Carns took care in their resignation letters to stress their specific disagreements on defence policy, rather than mount any leadership challenge. But in doing so, they pose a much greater threat to the PM’s hopes of survival. World affairs was considered to be the one area in which Starmer had excelled. With two of his most respected ministers now accusing him of effectively betraying the national interest, it will be increasingly hard for No. 10 and its outriders to mount a plausible case for the PM in the coming days.
Dan Jarvis has been announced as Healey’s replacement. He is a veteran of Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland, but the circumstances in which he takes the role mean he will be seen by many as simply a placeholder, in light of the wounds inflicted on Starmer’s authority by the two departing defence ministers. The Chancellor’s future looks grave too. In recent weeks, there have been some suggestions Rachel Reeves should be kept in post to reassure the bond markets if Starmer were to be replaced. But given the evident fury of the defence establishment at the Treasury and its role in the now-derided Strategic Defence Review, is it plausible that Reeves survives the next few months?
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