London: UK Armed Forces Minister Al Carns resigned on Thursday, hours after Defense Secretary John Healey stepped down over a dispute with the government regarding future defense spending. "It has become clear to me that the change I had pushed for is not going to come," he said in a resignation letter.

According to Anadolu Agency, Carns expressed that he could no longer remain in government because the changes he had advocated for in defense policy and military investment were unlikely to be implemented. He argued that the government's planned defense investment strategy was "not built for the threat we face," noting that the armed forces were being asked to operate in a more dangerous world without sufficient resources. "The character of conflict is changing faster than our procurement can keep up with," he warned, emphasizing that current spending plans were neither transformative enough nor adequately funded.

His resignation followed Healey's announcement of his own departure, citing the government's failure to commit to the level of defense spending he deemed necessary to address rising security threats. In his resignation letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Healey criticized the Treasury for refusing additional funding and claimed that a long-awaited defense investment plan did not provide the resources required by the armed forces.

Starmer dismissed the criticisms, asserting that the government's defense investment plan would equip the military with the resources needed to maintain national security while ensuring fiscal sustainability. The resignations have posed a significant challenge to the government amidst growing debate over defense readiness and military spending in an increasingly unstable global security environment.

Amid the upheaval, Downing Street announced the appointment of Dan Jarvis as the new defense secretary. Jarvis, who has served as the MP for Barnsley North since 2011 and was mayor of South Yorkshire between 2018 and 2022, was appointed security minister at the Home Office following Labour's return to government after the 2024 general election. Before his political career, Jarvis served as an officer in the Parachute Regiment, with operational deployments in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq, and Afghanistan.