Carns calls for ‘new way of governing’ in resignation letter, in implicit criticism of Starmer’s governing style<\/p>\n
Al Carns also indicated that he has leadership ambitions in the resignation letter<\/a> than he released last night.<\/p>\n Carns resigned as armed forces minister around eight hours after John Healey<\/a> resigned as defence secretary and for both of them the key issue was Downing Street not committing as much money as they wanted for the defence investment plan (Dip).<\/p>\n But Carns\u2019 letter went much further than Healey\u2019s. Carns complained not just about the money being allocated to Dip; he complained about how the money was being spent too.<\/p>\n He said he could not support the Northern Ireland<\/a> Troubles bill.<\/p>\n These are issues that you might expect a defence minister resigning from government to raise. However, Carns also suggested that the government was failing across the board \u2013 and this is where he sounded like someone pitching for the leaders.<\/p>\n Here is the key passage. I have highlighted the most telling passages in bold.<\/p>\n double quotation markToo many working people in this country feel insecure even when they are doing everything right. They work hard, contribute, pay their taxes and still feel one setback away from trouble. Public confidence in our institutions is weakening and politics increasingly looks performative while everyday life gets harder.<\/p>\n The machinery of government itself has been left to decay. Decisions that should take days, take months. Departments fight each other instead of the problem. Officials and ministers who know the truth are not always rewarded for telling it. We are trying to govern a more dangerous world with processes designed for a calmer one, and the gap is now showing in the things that matter most.<\/p>\n National resilience is about more than defence in the narrow sense. A strong country is not simply one with capable armed forces. It is one where working people feel economically secure, public services function, energy is resilient, communities are stable and young people can see a future worth working towards.<\/p>\n If my resignation accelerates the transition towards resolution, then the impact will far outweigh the act. We need a new way of governing and we need it now.<\/p>\n For my own part, I will keep arguing for a politics rooted in resilience, seriousness and national renewal. For a country where working people can once again feel secure about the future. And for the service personnel and veterans this government still has a duty to.<\/p>\n The deal this country makes with the people who serve it, in uniform, in classrooms, on building sites, is broken. I\u2019m going to spend my time on the backbenches trying to fix it.<\/p>\n This reads like a critique of Starmer\u2019s method of governing. The allegation that under his leadership the government takes too long to take decisions is one that has been made frequently.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.44 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Dan Jarvis, the new defence secretary, is in Swindon for the opening of the new drone testing facility, No 10 has confirmed. (See 12.36pm<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Share<\/a>No 10 says Dip still being finalised – but won’t reveal if Jarvis insisted on more funding before taking defence secretary job<\/p>\n Downing Street has confirmed that the defence investment plan (Dip) is still being finalised \u2013 but refused to say whether Dan Jarvis<\/a> insisted on more money being allocated for it as a condition for taking over as defence secretary last night.<\/p>\n In his resignation letter, John Healey said the funding set aside for the Dip was \u201cwell short\u201d of what was needed <\/a>and he suggested Keir Starmer had given up trying to get more money out of the Treasury to fund it.<\/p>\n At the Downing Street lobby briefing, a No 10 spokesperson said the plan was still being finalised \u2013 implying final spending totals are still up for negotation.<\/p>\n She said:<\/p>\n double quotation markWork to finalise the defence investment plan continues at pace with the new defence secretary and the prime minister has been clear that he is determined to publish it before the Nato summit in July.<\/p>\n Asked whether the numbers given to John Healey<\/a> on Monday were \u201cset in stone\u201d, the spokesperson repeated her answer.<\/p>\n Asked whether Starmer and Jarvis were agreed on the amount of funding the plan needed, she said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe prime minister has been working with his team on this plan for months \u2026 No one\u2019s shying away from the fact that this is about hard decisions, and we\u2019re looking at a 10-year period ahead, and we must take the time to get that right, and that is what we are doing.<\/p>\n The spokesperson also rejected claims the government had been putting off tough decisions on defence by \u201cbackloading\u201d commitments on spending (a claim made by Healey<\/a> in his resignation letter). Asked if this was the case, the spokesperson replied<\/p>\n double quotation markNo, I reject that.<\/p>\n And I would just remind you of what our commitments are on defence spending: increasing defence spending to 2.6% next year, with the aim of increasing it to 3% in the next parliament when fiscal conditions allow.<\/p>\n So we have committed to that and we\u2019re also committed to the Nato target of reaching 3.5% of GDP by 2035.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Originally the defence secretary was meant to be in Swindon today for a media event at a new drone testing centre. But the event was planned on the understanding that John Healey<\/a> would still be in office. After he resigned, the media were un-invited.<\/p>\n Some sort of event is still taking place, but we\u2019re rather short on details. Deborah Haynes, Sky News\u2019s defence and security editor, has been in Swindon this morning, but was stuck outside the gates and did not sound very happy about it<\/a>. The Swindon Advertiser is running a live blog<\/a>, but without media access it\u2019s a bit short on updates.<\/p>\n This is awkward because this was meant to be a big investment story. The new drone testing centre is described as the largest of its kind in Europe<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you are curious as to why Swindon has emerged as a centre for drone expertise, the Economist explained why in this recent article<\/a>. Here\u2019s an excerpt.<\/p>\n double quotation markThe town of 230,000 people has already attracted Tekever, a Portuguese dronemaker, which is investing \u00a3400m there and will start producing advanced surveillance drones later this year. Stark, a German startup, is assembling loitering munitions capable of carrying a 5kg payload. Smaller firms, including Flyby Technology and Munin Dynamics, are moving in. Empty aircraft hangars ten miles south at a former air-force base are being prepped for testing drones. An MoD facility will lend a military cachet to the embryonic cluster \u2026<\/p>\n Industrial decline has its benefits. Empty warehouses have dragged industrial rents down. Drone firms, keen to move fast, prize brownfield sites, those setting up locally say. Workers left adrift by the closure of a Honda factory following Brexit offer a pool of manufacturing know-how. Housing is relatively cheap. Firms also credit a YIMBY-minded local council with speedily stamping planning permits, and an energetic MP for courting defence firms.<\/p>\n Yet Swindon\u2019s greatest asset may be its location. Mike Armstrong, who runs Stark\u2019s British arm, says the town sits at the heart of Britain\u2019s defence-aerospace corridor. London lies one way, Bristol the other, with a chain of military institutions dotted across the region.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Dan Jarvis has been tweeting about his new job. He says<\/a>:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe defence of our nation is the first duty of government.<\/p>\n Our Armed Forces carry out that duty every day with professionalism, courage, and extraordinary skill.<\/p>\n It is a huge honour and a privilege to serve alongside them again.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Pro-Palestine activists believe \u2018sea change\u2019 coming in Labour\u2019s approach to Middle East<\/p>\n Pro-Palestine activists believe there could be a \u201csea change\u201d in the Labour party\u2019s approach to the crisis in the Middle East which could result in the government taking a tougher stance on Israel, Patrick Wintour reports.<\/p>\n Earlier this week the Palestine Solidarity Campaign published polling <\/a>showing that half of former Labour voters who are now backing another progressive party cite Gaza as a factor in their switch. In its write-up<\/a>, the PSC says:<\/p>\n double quotation mark53% of voters who have switched from Labour to the Greens, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, Plaid Cymru, and independents say Labour\u2019s policy on Gaza was either a factor or a major factor in their decision to switch.<\/p>\n Green voters were the most likely to say Labour\u2019s policy on Gaza was a factor, with over two-thirds (67%) saying it was a factor, including 30% who said it was a major factor \u2026<\/p>\n Nearly three quarters (74%) of voters who have switched from Labour to other centre or centre-left parties since the 2024 general election say their opinion of Labour would improve if the next leader were to adopt a strong position on Palestine, such as imposing sanctions on Israel.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Tories praise Carns for condemning Northern Ireland Troubles bill as ‘unfit for purpose’<\/p>\n In his resignation letter Al Carns, the former armed forces minister, said the government\u2019s Northern Ireland<\/a> Troubles bill was \u201cunfit for purpose\u201d.<\/p>\n He explained:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe same instinct, that serious problems can be managed rather than faced, runs through the Northern Ireland legacy bill.<\/p>\n I have worked to fix the bill from the inside, but it remains unfit for purpose. It risks failing the very veterans it claims to protect. Men and women I served with, those I buried friends alongside, people who did their duty under conditions most individuals in Westminster will never have to imagine.<\/p>\n I set out the changes I believed were necessary, and the lines which I could not in good conscience go beyond. Those lines have not been accepted. I have run out of room to argue this case honourably from inside government. A serving minister cannot ask fellow veterans to trust a process he no longer trusts himself.<\/p>\n The bill will replace the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act passed by the last government. The Tory legislation gave an effective immunity to members of the armed forces and members of terrorist organisations facing prosecution over Troubles-era allegations, provided that they gave information about those incidents to a new reconciliation commission.<\/p>\n The act was welcomed by former members of the armed forces, but opposed by all the main parties in Northern Ireland. In broad terms, nationalists were unhappy about former soldiers being exempt from prosecution, and unionists were unhappy about the same protection being extended to former terrorists.<\/p>\n Labour says it is replacing the Tory law because it was not fair to victims and survivors and because it is potentially unlawful.<\/p>\n Carns always made it clear he was unhappy about the bill. But he did not resign when it was published last year. It passed its second reading last November, and is one of the bills carried over from the old session of parliament into the new one.<\/p>\n Carns\u2019 comment about the bill echoes what the Conservative party has been saying about it. Last night James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, praised Carns for resigning over this issue. He said:<\/a><\/p>\n double quotation markHuge respect for Al Carns and the manner of his resignation – giving such a passionate and principled excoriation of Labour\u2019s deeply damning NI Troubles Bill.<\/p>\n As he says, the Bill is \u201cnot fit for purpose\u201d and betrays our veterans.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.44 EDT<\/p>\n Up to 90% of Ireland\u2019s asylum seekers may have entered from Northern Ireland, data shows<\/p>\n Up to 90% of asylum seekers in Ireland may have entered the country via the Northern Ireland<\/a> land border in the last three years, figures suggest. Lisa O\u2019Carroll has the story.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Carns says Dip too focused on wrong capability, saying MoD must invest in systems for next war, not last one<\/p>\n As armed forces minister, Al Carns was not involved in work on the defence investment plan (Dip). In his resignation letter<\/a>, he said it was flawed not just because of the amount of funding involved; he also claimed it focused too much on the wrong capability. He said (and I\u2019ve highlighted the key phrases in bold):<\/p>\n double quotation markThe 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. Platforms that cost billions can be defeated by systems that cost thousands. Any serious defence investment plan has to start from that reality.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n It 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.<\/p>\n In an interview with GB News, asked to explain what he meant about the MoD buying equipement for the last war, not the next one, he said:<\/p>\n double quotation markI want to see a higher percentage for uncrewed systems, AI, data \u2013 data is the new gunpowder \u2013 and we\u2019ve got to move that forward if we are going to win the next war.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Carns calls for ‘new way of governing’ in resignation letter, in implicit criticism of Starmer’s governing style<\/p>\n Al Carns also indicated that he has leadership ambitions in the resignation letter<\/a> than he released last night.<\/p>\n Carns resigned as armed forces minister around eight hours after John Healey<\/a> resigned as defence secretary and for both of them the key issue was Downing Street not committing as much money as they wanted for the defence investment plan (Dip).<\/p>\n But Carns\u2019 letter went much further than Healey\u2019s. Carns complained not just about the money being allocated to Dip; he complained about how the money was being spent too.<\/p>\n He said he could not support the Northern Ireland<\/a> Troubles bill.<\/p>\n These are issues that you might expect a defence minister resigning from government to raise. However, Carns also suggested that the government was failing across the board \u2013 and this is where he sounded like someone pitching for the leaders.<\/p>\n Here is the key passage. I have highlighted the most telling passages in bold.<\/p>\n double quotation markToo many working people in this country feel insecure even when they are doing everything right. They work hard, contribute, pay their taxes and still feel one setback away from trouble. Public confidence in our institutions is weakening and politics increasingly looks performative while everyday life gets harder.<\/p>\n The machinery of government itself has been left to decay. Decisions that should take days, take months. Departments fight each other instead of the problem. Officials and ministers who know the truth are not always rewarded for telling it. We are trying to govern a more dangerous world with processes designed for a calmer one, and the gap is now showing in the things that matter most.<\/p>\n National resilience is about more than defence in the narrow sense. A strong country is not simply one with capable armed forces. It is one where working people feel economically secure, public services function, energy is resilient, communities are stable and young people can see a future worth working towards.<\/p>\n If my resignation accelerates the transition towards resolution, then the impact will far outweigh the act. We need a new way of governing and we need it now.<\/p>\n For my own part, I will keep arguing for a politics rooted in resilience, seriousness and national renewal. For a country where working people can once again feel secure about the future. And for the service personnel and veterans this government still has a duty to.<\/p>\n The deal this country makes with the people who serve it, in uniform, in classrooms, on building sites, is broken. I\u2019m going to spend my time on the backbenches trying to fix it.<\/p>\n This reads like a critique of Starmer\u2019s method of governing. The allegation that under his leadership the government takes too long to take decisions is one that has been made frequently.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.44 EDT<\/p>\n UK economy shrank by 0.1% in April as Iran war held back growth<\/p>\n Defence policy is not the only area where there has been bad news for the government. As Heather Stewart reports, growth figures out today show the economy shrinking in April.<\/p>\n Here is her story.<\/p>\n And this is how it starts.<\/p>\n double quotation markThe UK economy contracted by 0.1% in April as the Iran war began to take its toll on growth, official figures show.<\/p>\n As energy prices have risen as a result of the conflict, after Iran closed off the strait of Hormuz \u2013 a vital shipping route for global trade<\/a> \u2013 the UK\u2019s strong expansion in the first quarter slid into reverse.<\/p>\n The fall in gross domestic product in April, which had been expected by economists, followed a 0.3% increase in March, according to the Office for National Statistics.<\/p>\n Global growth is slowing to lowest level since pandemic, says World Bank<\/p>\n The data will underline fears that the UK economy will contract in the second quarter of the year.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Al Carns declines to rule out standing for Labour leadership<\/p>\n Al Carns, who resigned as armed forces minister last night, has not ruled out standing for the Labour<\/a> leadership.<\/p>\n In an interview on LBC this morning, asked if he would consider standing for the leadership if \u201cthe ball comes out from the back of the scrum\u201d, Carns replied:<\/p>\n double quotation markI\u2019m good at rugby and football, but we\u2019ll see what happens \u2026 I\u2019m always up for playing.<\/p>\n And on the Today programme, when asked about if he had resigned from the government out of personal ambition, Carns replied:<\/p>\n double quotation markPeople get confused about ambition and service. My whole career has been put to service. If I wanted to be ambitious, I wouldn\u2019t have got into politics. If I wanted to make more money, I wouldn\u2019t have got into politics. I left the military not because my career was faltering, but because I decided I wanted to make change, because I think we\u2019re a pivotal moment in the history of the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n So, this is about service to me. I\u2019ve been really clear.<\/p>\n I haven\u2019t even received my P45 from the last job yet and we\u2019ll see what happens in the future.<\/p>\n Carns only became an MP at the 2024 election, less than two years ago, and he had no experience in politics before that, and so many would regard the thought that he could become Labour leader any time soon as preposterous. Only a handful of MPs seem to be in favour of the idea.<\/p>\n But Carns has been promoting his credentials as a potential leader, setting out his vision in an article for the New Statesman last month<\/a>. His record in the Royal Marines was highly impressive, and he was regarded as someone who could have gone right to the top of the armed forces.<\/p>\n There is also a history of political parties turning to former servicemen as leaders partly because voters generally admire soldiers. Sometimes this works out well (eg President Eisenhower and Colin Powell in the US) and sometimes this doesn\u2019t (eg Iain Duncan Smith).<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.27 EDT<\/p>\n Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton, chief of the defence staff, leaving No 10 this morning after a meeting with Keir Starmer and Dan Jarvis, the new defence secretary. Photograph: Kin Cheung\/APShare<\/a>Peter Kyle says he is loyal to Keir Starmer, but not ‘blindly loyal’<\/p>\n Peter Kyle, the business secretary, told Sky News this morning that he was loyal to Keir Starmer<\/a>, but not \u201cblindly loyal\u201d. He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markIt is a purpose that brought me into politics, not a person.<\/p>\n That purpose is to get growth into our economy, to make sure the hard work is rewarded anybody who should get on in life and has the aptitude to get on in life and the approach to get on in life should be able to be rewarded for it.<\/p>\n We need to make sure we have a country that is respected around the world, and public services that are there for everyone, because they\u2019re too often not.<\/p>\n This is the mission that I came into politics in order to deliver and Keir Starmer has delivered on these things.<\/p>\n He has earned my loyalty. I\u2019m not blindly loyal to him. He has earned my loyalty, because we are aligned in the purpose of this government.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Dan Jarvis leaving Downing Street this morning. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt\/PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Sky News has just shown some footage of Dan Jarvis meeting Keir Starmer<\/a> in No 10, and then footage of him leaving No 10.<\/p>\n As he walked along Downing Street, reporters shouted questions at him from a distance. What\u2019s the state of the defence investment plan (Dip)? Are you renegotiating the Dip? Will it be ready in time for the Nato summit? Are you just keeping the defence secretary seat warm for someone else?<\/p>\n All good questions.<\/p>\n But Jarvis did not answer them.<\/p>\n Dan Jarvis (left) meeting Keir Starmer in No 10 with Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton, chief of the defence staff (right) Photograph: Sky NewsShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.05 EDT<\/p>\n UK\u2019s defence plan is underfunded and outdated, says Al Carns after resignation<\/p>\n Al Carns has delivered a withering assessment of the government\u2019s defence plans after quitting as defence minister, accusing ministers of not spending enough money on the military and spending it on the wrong weapons. Kiran Stacey has the story.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Minister rejects claims Labour’s defence policy ‘in tatters’, as Dan Jarvis starts work as new defence secretary<\/p>\n Good morning. This time yesterday Keir Starmer\u2019s leadership was already in peril, with many in his party assuming that he will be replaced by Andy Burnham at some point later this year, but there was a consensus that, on defence and international security, his record was impressive. John Healey\u2019s surprise resignation as defence secretary blew that apart. Later, after 8pm last night, Al Carns, the armed forces minister, also resigned over the defence investment plan.<\/a><\/p>\n Here is our main story, by Pippa Crerar and Dan Sabbagh.<\/p>\n Here is an analysis by Jessica Elgot.<\/p>\n And you can read the exchange of letters between Starmer and Healey here<\/a>.<\/p>\n In his letter to Healey, Starmer defended the defence investment plan (Dip), which has not been published but which prompted Healey\u2019s resignation because, when he saw what he thought was the final version on Monday, he concluded that it did not commit enough money to the armed forces. Starmer said:<\/p>\n double quotation markYou are also right that we have to go further. The defence investment plan does just that \u2014 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 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n That implied the version of the Dip that was unacceptable to Healey would not be changed.<\/p>\n But this morning Peter Kyle, the business secretary, has been giving interviews on behalf of the government \u2013 and he implied it was still being finalised.<\/p>\n Kyle told Times Radio \u201cthe plan is being developed\u201d and \u201cwe are determined to get it right\u201d. And on Sky News he said:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe are setting [the Dip] out before the Nato summit, [in] early July, what that looks like, and we are just finalising those plans.<\/p>\n At one point the government was expected to publish the Dip this week. The Nato summit does not start until 7 July, and so Kyle\u2019s comments imply publication has been held back.<\/p>\n In his Times Radio interview, Kyle also rejected a suggestion that the government\u2019s defence policy was \u201cin tatters\u201d. When this was put to him, he replied:<\/p>\n double quotation markNo, the plan is being developed. We are determined to get it right. We are talking about an enormous amount of money going into defence at a period of time where we have to modernise the way we think about defence, but also make sure that we do so in a way that benefits British jobs. This is highly complex.<\/p>\n Last night Dan Jarvis, the former security minister, was appointed defence secretary. We don\u2019t know yet whether, as a condition of taking a job, he insisted on a revision of the Dip spending figures that Healey criticised so strongly. But he is due to attend an event at a drone factory in Swindon this morning, and so we might get some clarification there. Earlier this morning he arrived at Downing Street.<\/p>\n Dan Jarvis arriving in Downing Street this morning. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt\/PA<\/p>\n (According to Politico, the visit to the drone factory was planned some time ago<\/a>, and at one point it was thought this could be where Healey would be announcing the publication of the Dip. But on Wednesday the Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, said that releasing such an important announcement when the Commons was not sitting would be \u201can utter disgrace and an utter kick in the face\u201d<\/a> to MPs, and \u2013 before Healey resigned \u2013 the government abandoned plans for an annoucement today.)<\/p>\n We will also get a lobby briefing at 11.30am which may \u2013 or may not \u2013 provide some clarity. Otherwise, the political diary for the day looks quite empty.<\/p>\n I\u2019m afraid we\u2019re not expecting to be able to have comments open today because the moderators are particularly stretched with other duties. But, if you want to draw something to my attention, do use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X<\/a>, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.<\/p>\n I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can\u2019t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.<\/p>\n