Keir Starmer has made a decision that is barely believable and utter madness, according to James Knuckey. Amid a week from hell, the Prime Minister's premiership has been torpedoed by two explosive resignations, but it is the woefully underinvested military who are really paying the price.
Resignations Rock Westminster
Defence Secretary John Healey stepped down, followed hours later by Armed Forces Minister Al Carns. Both issued scathing criticism of the government's funding for defence. Mr Healey said the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP) "falls well short of what is required". Mr Carns told the PM he could not defend "a level of investment I know to be inadequate to the task".
This is totally embarrassing for Sir Keir, whose tough talk on defence appears to be just that—talk. But it is not the PM we should be thinking of; it is our troops who are being asked to carry out their duties with one metaphoric hand tied behind their back.
Military Expert's Damning Verdict
Mr Carns, a decorated former special forces colonel and Royal Marines reservist, bluntly said the DIP is "not built for the threat we face". He added: "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."
Mr Carns also revealed he "had no hand in" the DIP, which itself is unbelievable. An actual military hero—one of the most decorated to ever sit in the Commons—forced to sit on the sidelines while a document detailing defence spending plans for the next decade is drawn up. Utter madness.
New Defence Secretary Appointed
Dan Jarvis, a former Para, has replaced Mr Healey as defence secretary. Some have quipped online that he is "the next captain of the Titanic", in a nod to the seemingly impossible task ahead. Good luck to him; he is going to need it, and Britain needs him to succeed.
For the Prime Minister, he has nowhere to hide. His claims that the DIP is backed by the "necessary investment" feel hollow given these bombshell resignations. This has been a disaster, and it is not right that our brave men and women in uniform are facing the consequences.
