Bloody Thursday for Starmer: Two More Ministers Quit, Seven Gone in a Month

Seven ministers have now resigned from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government in the span of a month. Thursday's back-to-back departures from the Ministry of Defence brought the tally to seven, and made clear the crisis has reached a new level.

Defence Secretary John Healey resigned Thursday morning, accusing Starmer and the Treasury of refusing to give Britain's military the resources it needs to meet growing threats. Hours later, Armed Forces Minister Al Carns followed him out the door.

Two resignations from the Ministry of Defence in a single day. This isn't a dispute over a line item in Britain's Defence Investment Plan (DIP). It's a government in revolt, and it has now consumed the very department responsible for keeping Britain safe.

Healey posted his resignation letter to social media Thursday morning. 

 

It left no doubt about why he was leaving.

"You have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats."

"Without a DIP that meets the moment in this way, I am being forced to make decisions that would reduce the readiness of our Forces and increase the risk to personnel on operations, and could make the country less safe." 

Conservative opposition leader Kemi Badenoch wasted no time.

"John Healey has acted honourably and in the national interest. He has exposed the war that is going on behind the scenes. He has shown that our Prime Minister is too weak to make difficult decisions or to face down his backbenchers."

She went straight for the jugular on welfare.

"Labour is not funding defence because they want to spend all their money on welfare. They're taxing everybody to pay for welfare, and this cannot go on."

It was about to get worse.

 Earlier Thursday, Armed Forces Minister Al Carns sat down for an interview and openly suggested he was weighing whether he could stay in government if the defense funding dispute wasn't resolved.

Asked whether he was considering his position, Carns responded:

"I need to do what is right by the armed forces, and if I don't think that's right, then I will absolutely consider my position."

At the time, it looked like a warning shot. It was a resignation notice.

Carns did not have Number 10's approval to give the interview. After it aired, further discussions with Downing Street went nowhere, and he quit.

Carns announced his resignation on social media Thursday afternoon.

"We owe those who serve the UK the kit to do the job and the loyalty to stand by them when it's done. We are failing on both.

"I've spent my whole time in government making that case. Number 10 will not listen, so I am resigning as Minister for the Armed Forces."

Carns, a decorated Royal Marine veteran who served four tours in Afghanistan, argued in his resignation letter that Britain was trying to meet modern threats with outdated priorities.

"We are asking our Armed Forces to operate in a more dangerous world on a budget written for a calmer one."

Then came the line that will define this moment:

"A serious country funds its defence to meet the threat it actually faces, not the threat it wishes it faced."

The fallout quickly reached the floor of Parliament.

As news of Carns' resignation spread through Westminster, former minister Jess Phillips could be seen checking the announcement on her phone before showing it to former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, both of whom had already walked out on Starmer themselves.

Streeting, who quit last month vowing this leadership succession won't be a "coronation," has been sharpening his knives ever since.

On the floor of the House of Commons, Conservative Shadow Minister for Defence Mark Francois demanded an urgent statement from the government on Healey's resignation. Deputy Speaker Carolyn Nokes indicated that the government wasn't prepared to respond, as ministers were still scrambling to react to a crisis unfolding in real time.

That said everything about where Starmer's government stands.

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And they were the latest in a cascade of ministerial departures, seven in a single month, as Labour trails Reform UK in polling and Starmer's grip on his own party visibly loosens. 

Governments can survive individual resignations. What becomes much harder to contain is a steady stream of ministers walking out while their former colleagues openly position themselves for what comes next.

By the end of the day, Starmer had lost both his Defence Secretary and his Armed Forces Minister, replaced by a man inheriting a department in open revolt.

Carns' final words said it all.

"Number 10 will not listen."

Seven ministers in a month. And the people walking out aren't the fringe. They're the ones responsible for keeping Britain safe.