KEIR Starmer is facing a growing rebellion as another minister has quit and a Scottish Labour MP has left their defence role following a dispute over military funding.
John Healey resigned as defence secretary on Thursday afternoon after he said he was left with “no other option” following a disagreement over the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) with the Prime Minister.
Healey accused Starmer of being “unable” and the Treasury of being “unwilling” to commit to resources for the military, and said the DIP he was handed earlier this week “falls well short of what is required”.
Al Carns has also quit his ministerial position on Thursday evening, after his boss walked away from the UK Government.
Scottish Labour MP Pamela Nash also announced on Thursday evening that she had quit as Defence Parliamentary Private Secretary.
She wrote on Twitter/X: “With much sadness I have written to the Prime Minister to resign as Defence PPS.
“It's been a great privilege to serve with John Healey, who has been a tremendous Defence Secretary.”
The Dip, originally called for by the Strategic Defence Review almost exactly a year ago, has been long delayed by wrangling over funding.
Carns posted his resignation letter to the Prime Minister on Twitter/X saying that the UK Government owes “those who serve the UK the kit to do the job and the loyalty to stand by them when it's done”.
He wrote: “It has become clear to me that the change I had pushed for is not going to come. Given the situation, I have decided to resign as Minister for the Armed Forces.
“We face a more unstable and dangerous world than at any point in recent decades, and having spent most of my adult life in uniform, I understand what public service in such a moment demands.
“It is for this very reason I cannot continue.
“I have watched, as a Marine, what war looks like now. I have spoken to those who have seen it up close in Ukraine. The lesson is uncomfortable and it is unambiguous. The character of conflict is changing faster than our procurement can keep up with.”
Carns added: “We are asking our Armed Forces to operate in a more dangerous world on a budget written for a calmer one.
“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.”
Responding to Healey’s resignation, Starmer said he agreed that the UK Government has to “go further” on increasing defence funding.
But he insisted the Dip “will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe and the clarity the British defence industry needs to plan”.
