Keir Starmer just received another significant blow, and soon he may have only Rachel Reeves left by his side. At the current rate of attrition, the Cabinet table will soon seat just Starmer and Reeves, staring at each other and wondering who will quit next.
Defence Ministers Resign
Earlier, Defence Secretary John Healey resigned, telling the Prime Minister in no uncertain terms that he had made the country less safe. Within hours, Armed Forces Minister Al Carns, a decorated serviceman, followed suit, declaring the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan to be 'not built for the threat we face.'
Two serious men left in a single afternoon over a budget they claim was designed for a calmer world than the one we actually live in.
Underfunding Concerns
Their warnings are not new. The fact that Britain underfunds its armed forces has been stated repeatedly for months. The HMS Dragon debacle, where the Royal Navy could barely scrape together a single ship for the Mediterranean, tells the same story. However, the difference now is that the warning comes from inside the government, from the very men charged with national safety.
One troubling detail remains: it took Sir Keir four hours to acknowledge the resignation of his own Defence Secretary, at a time when conflict rages across half the globe. One can only hope adversaries were not watching the clock.
Constitutional Questions
There is also a constitutional question simmering beneath the drama. If we have a Prime Minister who cannot fill the holes being blasted into the government, then we have a Prime Minister who does not, in any meaningful sense, command the House.
Kemi Badenoch says Labour has put welfare before warfare, and the evidence suggests she is right. The world is dangerous, and we are not ready for it. Sir Keir must wake up and take control, or he might simply leave and turn off the lights on his way out.
