Joshua Nevett
Political reporter

This isn’t the only resignation this evening.

Earlier this evening, before Carns resigned, Pamela Nash quit as parliamentary private secretary in the Ministry of Defence.

In her letter to the prime minister, the Labour MP says stepping down from the role is not “an action I take lightly”.

“The defence of our nation is the most important responsibility for any government,” she writes.

“The delays and difficulties with securing the necessary funding to progress the defence investment plan has been the latest issue that is damaging to the trust of the public in us.”

Nash says the government’s “successes are consistently drowned out by mistakes and the failure to be bold when it matters most,” adding “we must do better”.

Parliamentary private secretaries are unpaid assistants to government ministers.

Chris Mason
Political editor

What a bizarre evening.

At half seven I interviewed Al Carns, as a serving defence minister.

No sooner had we fed our video into our systems here, and he’d packed it in and left the government.

Image source, PA Media

Former armed forces minister Al Carns has resigned just hours after former Defence Secretary John Healey.

Who is he?

Since joining the military at 19, Carns served during four tours in Afghanistan, and was awarded the Military Cross in 2011 in recognition of his service - the citation for his actions remains classified.

He had a 24-year military career, including serving as a Royal Marine Commando, though much of it is shrouded in secrecy.

From 2017, he served as adviser to three UK defence secretaries, before being elected Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak during the 2024 General Election.

Carns was swiftly promoted to the position of veterans minister, and became minister for the armed forces in last September's reshuffle.

Al Carns is the seventh minister to step down in the past month, and the second today, following John Healey.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting left his post on 14 May.

Two days before, Jess Phillips resigned from her position as safeguarding minister.

On the same day, junior ministers Miatta Fahnbulleh, Alex Davies-Jones and Zubir Ahmed also resigned from the government.

In his resignation letter, Carns says "the character of conflict is changing faster than our procurement can keep up with".

He says the defence investment plan "is not built for the threat we face" and "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," the letter adds.

"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."

Carns finishes the letter by saying he will "keep fighting for the people I served with" and hopes the government will do the same.

Image source, PA Media

Armed Forces Minister Al Carns resigns from government hours after Defence Secretary John Healey stepped down.

In a letter to the Prime Minister Keir Starmer, he says: "It has been the privilege of my life to serve this country, first in uniform and then in government.

"I have said that there are issues facing this Department that do not lend themselves to easy answers, and that there needs to be agreement throughout the government about the scale of the challenges we face.

"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."

Freya Scott-Turner
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

Defence Secretary John Healey has become the sixth minister to tender his resignation from Keir Starmer's government in the past month.

In his resignation letter - which caught most Westminster-watchers off guard - Healey made clear his resignation was over defence funding.

Pressure has been mounting on the government to publish its defence investment plan.

Healey wrote that he viewed the plans in full for the first time on Monday, and said the money offered to his department falls "well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time".

He accused Starmer of being "unable" and the Treasury "unwilling" to "commit the resources that the nation needs".

In response a short while ago, Starmer insisted his funding plan would "provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe”.

Healey's successor is yet to be announced.

We're ending our live coverage here, but you can keep up-to-date with the latest in our news story, or in this analysis piece from our political editor Chris Mason.

Image source, PA Media

In a message to staff at the Ministry of Defence, Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Richard Knighton says: "There will be much written and said about the armed forces over the next few days.

"It is important that we remain apolitical and are not drawn into speculation about decisions that are for ministers to make.

"In uncertain times, it is more important than ever that we stay focused on our duty to defend the UK and its interests across the world without fear or favour."

"The work our armed forces do matters, and it matters more than it has done for many years."

At the bottom of the message, Knighton adds that he is looking forward to welcoming the new defence secretary.

"For now, thank you for everything that you do for the nation. You should be rightly proud of the role you play in keeping us safe."

Image source, PA Media

The former head of the British Army says he was "shocked" about the timing of John Healey's resignation but "not surprised as to the substance".

General Lord Richard Dannatt tells BBC News that if the chancellor does not have a "change of heart" and allocate more funding to defence spending, we will see a "continuing decline" in the UK's armed forces and and military capability.

He says that would lead to a "withering" of the deterrent effect, which he says the UK needs "to hold back someone like [Russian President] Vladimir Putin's otherwise otherwise aggressive and expansionist intentions".

Dannatt adds: "We've got to show that we take seriously the defence of this country... we've got to put serious amounts of money extra into this budget."

He says not allocating more funding "absolutely increases the risk" to army personnel deployed, echoing Healey's assertion in his resignation letter that without an investment plan that "meets the moment", he would be forced to make decisions that "increase the risk to personnel on operations".

More now from the prime minister's letter to Healey.

Starmer says the world today "requires a serious response to build our economic resilience and our national defences".

The prime minister says the pair "have achieved a great deal working together" and he is "proud of our record on funding".

The defence investment plan "will allow our armed forces to transform and modernise and back them with the tools they need to change the way we fight — and to deter our enemies," the letter adds.

Starmer says the increases in spending outlined in the defence investment plan, which is yet to be released, "will be sustainable and fair" and "will mean significant reallocations of funding from across government departments".

He finishes the letter by saying: "Taking these decisions is never easy. I am determined to rebuild our country after years of being buffeted by crises."

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent

Image source, The Times/PA Wire

As we've just been reporting, Keir Starmer has insisted the government’s defence investment plan “will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe”.

In a letter to John Healey, the prime minister said he was increasing defence spending “in a sustainable way” and said “irresponsible borrowing” would put the country’s finances “at risk”.

The prime minister thanked Healey for his work and said he was “sorry that you will not be part of that work going forward”.

In a direct response to Healey’s accusation that the money in the defence investment plan would not be sufficient to defend the UK against threats, Starmer said: “I will always do what is needed to keep our country safe.”

He said Healey was “right that we have to go further” on defence spending but said the defence investment plan “does just that delivering an unprecedented increase in defence spending in a sustainable way”.

He added: “Strong public finances are part of what keeps us safe - irresponsible borrowing only puts that at risk.”

Image source, UK Government

Prime Minister Keir Starmer insists a key defence funding plan “will provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe”, in a letter to Healey responding to his resignation.

In the letter, the prime minister says he is sorry to see him resign as defence secretary.

We'll bring you more on this shortly.

Jayne McCormack
BBC News NI political correspondent

Image source, PA Media

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has defended the government's defence spending plans after John Healey's resignation.

Speaking in Belfast, Benn says the defence investment plan "involves difficult decisions", but adds that he "would draw attention to the fact we have seen the biggest increase already in defence spending as a result of the decisions the PM has taken since the Cold War".

"We are living in dangerous and difficult times... the PM has my full support. We need stability and he's going to carry on doing his job in the way that he has," he says.

Benn says he has known Healey a "very long time" and wants to thank him for the role he played during his time in office, and wishes him all the very best.

Jemma Crew
Business reporter

A fully-funded defence investment plan must be published urgently, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

Chief executive Rain Newton-Smith, who co-chaired the government’s defence and growth taskforce last year, says this would lead to investment and jobs.

Newton-Smith says it has the potential to be a "catalyst for growth... strengthening both our security and the long-term productivity of the UK economy".

“We live in a precarious world where our peace and security is being tested.

"Enhancing our national security is vital, and a government commitment to higher defence spending is a key part of this.

"Delay carries a cost – not only to our security, but also to investor confidence."

Government defence advisers warned ‘it may be necessary to go faster’published at 18:03 BST

18:03 BST

By Ben Chu

The government’s strategic defence review in June 2025 set out a blueprint for a transformation of the UK armed forces over the next decade, including more investment in drones, creating a “more lethal” army and investing in the “next generation” of aircraft.

The authors of the report specified they had made their recommendations within a framework of the government’s existing commitments for the defence budget to rise to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and 3% in the 2030s.

The report said: “We are confident that the transformation we propose for the harder world we now live in is affordable over 10 years, given these promised new resources.”

However, the authors - former Defence Secretary Lord Robertson, retired general Sir Richard Barrons and ex-US national security adviser Fiona Hill - added that “as we live in such turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”.

Since the review was published Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the Royal Navy will lead a multinational mission to protect commercial shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz.

And Robertson said in April that the government was “not willing to make the necessary investment” in defence.

Beneath resignation lies what some see as a broader failurepublished at 17:41 BST

17:41 BST

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

Forget, for a moment, the here and now about John Healey’s resignation. There is a bigger picture.

Successive governments have struggled to get a grip on defence spending. They spent less after the Cold War ended and failed to spend more as the world became more dangerous.

To its many critics, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) failed to spend well what money it got, botching procurement after procurement, delivering late and over budget.

Whitehall failed to resolve its internal tensions, both Number 10 and the Cabinet Office unable - or too weak - to manage repeated rows between the Treasury and MoD.

All the while, many analysts believe politicians failed to be honest with voters about the increasing threats the UK faced, and the brutally hard trade-offs needed to address them.

Labour MPs will admit in private more money for defence would mean less for other priorities such as net zero and transport - even health and education.

John Healey’s resignation may reflect a current row but beneath it lies what some see as a broader failure of government and politics to address a genuine national interest.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte says he "had not heard this announcement [until the reporter's question]", but that "John Healey, I respect very much".

Asked at a press conference in Brussels if Healey's resignation reveals some of the difficulties of ramping up defence spending for countries, Rutte says: "Of course, it's not easy, because of course there's always a trade off with other expenses."

He adds: "The core to ask of every government in the end is keeping the country safe and a strong economy."

John Healey had been due to attend a meeting of Nato defence ministers chaired by Rutte next week.

What’s happened to UK defence spending and plans to hit the Nato target?published at 17:13 BST

17:13 BST

By Adam Durbin and Anthony Reuben

The government has previously hailed its plans as "the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War". However, military expenditure has been on an almost constant downward trajectory since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

In April, former Nato secretary general Lord Robertson, who helped author last year’s Strategic Defence Review, criticised the level of defence expenditure when compared with welfare spending.

The UK’s working-age benefits bill was lower than for defence in the mid-1980s, but since 1990 welfare spending has been higher - often significantly so.

Working-age benefit spend is projected to rise to around 4.3% of GDP by the end of the decade, compared with the government’s , external"ambition" to hit 3% on defence in the next parliament.

But it’s important to note the government has also committed to a Nato target to spend 5% on "national security" by 2035 - due to be made up of 3.5% on "core defence" and 1.5% on things like protecting critical infrastructure.

Only three countries - Poland, Lithuania and Latvia - spent more than 3.5% of their GDP on defence in 2025, with Estonia and Norway close to that level.

The UK spent 2.3% of GDP on defence in 2025 which put it just above average for Nato members, according to figures from the military alliance.

The chairman of the Commons Defence Committee says it is a "grave moment" that a "defence secretary of his integrity and commitment has felt compelled to resign in response to the inadequacy of the proposed defence settlement".

Labour MP Tan Dhesi says in a statement that the government must take this with the "utmost seriousness".

The defence investment plan cannot be delayed further, he writes, adding: “It must be affordable, deliverable and fully funded, with credible timelines and proper parliamentary scrutiny.

"Our armed forces, defence industry, allies and adversaries alike need to see that the UK is matching its words on national security with the resources required to deliver.”

Resignation is a devastating critique of Starmer's governmentpublished at 16:24 BST

16:24 BST

Chris Mason
Political editor

Two words leap out of John Healey's resignation letter and they amount to a devastating – and recurring – critique of Keir Starmer's government.

The two words are "unwilling" and "unable".

Healey is the sixth government minister to resign since Labour's disastrous showing in last month's elections.

His resignation comes on the day so many in Westminster expected would be when the government's long anticipated defence investment plan was published.

It was becoming abundantly clear it wasn't going to see the light of day yet, because of rows within government about how to pay for it.

And this just a week before Healey was due to attend a Nato defence ministers meeting in Brussels - and a week before the crucial Makerfield by-election, when Andy Burnham could return to parliament and take on the prime minister.

Little wonder there was a desire from Starmer to get on with doing big stuff before then, if at all possible.

But now this. An already politically weakened prime minister weakened further.

• Read more of Chris's analysis in his blog here