Armed Forces Minister Al Carns has joined Defence Secretary John Healey in resigning over Sir Keir Starmer’s military spending plan.
In another hammer blow to the Prime Minister’s authority, Mr Carns quit from his role as he criticised Sir Keir's Defence Investment Plan (DIP), saying it is "neither transformative enough nor sufficiently funded".
Mr Healey had earlier resigned from the cabinet on Thursday accusing Sir Keir of failing to properly fund defence which he said “could make the country less safe”.
In his scathing resignation letter Mr Carns told the Prime Minister he could not defend “a level of investment I know to be inadequate to the task”.
He wrote: “I have sat in the rooms, seen the assessments, and spoken to the commanders who will be asked to do more with less, and I cannot in good conscience stand at the dispatch box and defend a level of investment I know to be inadequate to the task.
“A serious country funds its defence to meet the threat it actually faces, not the threat it wishes it faced.”
The Dip, a blueprint for investing more in the military over a sustained period, was originally called for by the Strategic Defence Review almost exactly a year ago and has been long delayed by wrangling over funding.
Mr Healey in his resignation letter said the DIP financial settlement, which he was given on Monday afternoon, falls “well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time”.
It is understood that the MoD was offered only £10billion of extra cash. Mr Healey told the Prime Minister that a 0.08% of GDP increase to defence was not enough to keep the country safe.
“You know what defence needs,” he told Sir Keir in his letter.
In his stinging resignation letter, Mr Healey told the PM: "This era for defence required further investment through the defence investment plan.
“The excellent and extensive cross-government work that completed in January - overseen by you, me and the chancellor - confirmed the scale of the challenge and the rising demands on defence.
“Since then, 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."
Sir Keir has insisted the defence funding plan “will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe”.
Responding to Mr Healey’s resignation in his own letter, Sir Keir said he agreed that the Government has to “go further” on increasing defence funding.
But he added: “The Defence Investment Plan does just that, delivering an unprecedented increase in defence spending in a sustainable way.
“It will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe and the clarity the British defence industry needs to plan.
“It will make the big strategic investments we need for the long term and give the certainty which private finance needs to invest. It will allow our armed forces to transform and modernise and back them with the tools they need to change the way we fight — and to deter our enemies.
“And crucially it will ensure the money spent is spent wisely and used to back jobs and growth here in Britain.”
The plan is backed by “the necessary investment”, Sir Keir said, adding that increases in spending underpinning the plan will be “sustainable and fair”.
Dan Jarvis has been appointed as Mr Healey’s replacement as Defence Secretary.
