Starmer vows to fight; Jarvis UK defence secy

Def spending: Armed Forces Minister Al Carns quits

I have overseen the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the 1980s. Every govt dept had submitted cuts to non-frontline spending to help finance the Dip.

Very many people, very often sitting outside of govt, give the impression that there is lots of easy decisions that can be taken. There are no easy decisions.

Decisions in govt involve trade-offs, so they always have to come with that second question: ‘Well, if you’re going to do that, what is it you wouldn’t do?’

I’m not going to walk away. We should plunge the country into the chaos of a leadership election. It should happen, but if it does, I will fight. That’s not about personal vanity, it’s not about stubbornness. It’s out of a sense of duty. 

Sir Keir Starmer, UK Prime Minister

London: British PM Sir Keir Starmer has declared he will take on Andy Burnham in a future Labour leadership contest, insisting his decision is driven by duty, not personal vanity. Starmer’s statement follows the resignation of Armed Forces Minister Al Carns, who quit over disagreements with the government’s defence investment plan. Carns’s resignation followed the departure of Defence Secretary John Healey on Thursday.

Carns described the plan as insufficiently funded and not “built for the threat we face,” intensifying scrutiny over Starmer’s handling of national security amid global threats.

Starmer appointed former Security Minister Dan Jarvis as the new defence secretary. 

Jarvis, a veteran of the Parachute Regiment, called it a “huge honour” to serve alongside the Armed Forces again, emphasising defending Britain is the government’s “first duty”. Starmer said the government was delivering the largest sustained rise in defence spending since the Cold War, with a commitment to achieve 3% of GDP on defence by 2030 and 3.5% by 2035.

Burnham, Labour’s candidate at the Makerfield bypoll next Thursday, has vowed to challenge Starmer for leadership if elected to the Comm­ons. Former Royal Ma­ri­ne Al Carns also hinted at a leadership bid, saying he will stand up for the causes he believes in from the back ben­ches. The US urged the UK to streng­th­en its military amid global se­curity concerns. —Agencies