UK Armed Forces Minister Al Carns resigns over defence spending dispute

London: UK Armed Forces Minister Al Carns has resigned from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s government, citing deep concerns over defence funding and military preparedness, in a move that further exposes divisions within the administration over national security spending.

Carns’ departure follows the resignation of former Defence Secretary John Healey, who had also clashed with the Prime Minister over the government’s defence budget. Healey had argued that the level of military spending proposed by Starmer’s government “falls well short” of what is needed to protect the country.

Announcing his resignation on X, Carns said the government was failing to adequately support Britain’s armed forces.

“We owe those who serve the UK the kit to do the job and the loyalty to stand by them when it’s done. We are failing on both,” he wrote.

“I’ve spent my whole time in government making that case. Number 10 will not listen, so I am resigning as Minister for the Armed Forces,” he added.

In a strongly worded resignation letter to the Prime Minister, Carns said he had concluded that efforts to push for meaningful reforms within the Ministry of Defence had reached a dead end.

“It has become clear to me that the change I had pushed for is not going to come,” he wrote. “Given the situation, I have decided to resign as Minister for the Armed Forces.”

A former Royal Marine, Carns warned that Britain was struggling to adapt to the rapidly evolving nature of modern warfare. Referring to lessons from conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, he argued that military procurement policies remain geared toward outdated threats.

“The character of conflict is changing faster than our procurement can keep up with. We are still purchasing capability suitable for the last war while our adversaries arm for the next one,” he said.

Carns reserved some of his sharpest criticism for the government’s Defence Investment Plan (DIP), claiming it fails to address the scale of emerging security challenges.

“While I had no hand in the Defence Investment Plan, that distance does allow me to say plainly that it is not built for the threat we face. It is neither transformative enough nor sufficiently funded,” he wrote.

“We are asking our Armed Forces to operate in a more dangerous world on a budget written for a calmer one.”

The outgoing minister said he could no longer defend what he viewed as inadequate levels of defence spending.

“I cannot in good conscience stand at the dispatch box and defend a level of investment I know to be inadequate to the task,” he stated, adding that “a serious country funds its defence to meet the threat it actually faces, not the threat it wishes it faced.”

Carns also criticised the Northern Ireland Legacy Bill, describing it as “unfit for purpose” and warning that it risks failing veterans whom it was intended to protect.

His resignation is likely to intensify pressure on the Starmer government over defence policy and military funding at a time of heightened global tensions and growing security concerns across Europe.

IANS