Carns says UK military is not sufficiently funded amid defence shake-up
Carns quit as Britain’s defence funding row widened, warning the military was not sufficiently funded as ministers weighed a plan that could affect readiness and procurement.
Britain’s defence budget dispute burst into the open when Al Carns resigned and said the military was not “sufficiently funded” as the government reshuffled its top defence team. The argument now reaches beyond one resignation: it has become a test of whether the United Kingdom can bankroll the capabilities promised in its Defence Investment Plan.
John Healey also quit as secretary of state for defence on 11 June 2026, and Dan Jarvis MBE MP was appointed to replace him the same day. Healey had held the post since 5 July 2024, while Carns served as minister for the armed forces from 6 September 2025 until 11 June 2026. The immediate dispute centres on how the Defence Investment Plan will be paid for, and whether the Treasury has provided enough money to deliver it.
Healey said the financial settlement behind the plan fell short and would force decisions that reduce readiness. Carns was even blunter, saying he did not believe the government’s defence plans were “sufficiently funded” and that he was failing those who serve the UK. Their departures leave the new defence secretary facing an unresolved funding gap at a moment when the ministry is already trying to turn strategy into spending.
The pressure point is the government’s commitment, set out in February 2025, to raise defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product from April 2027. Ministers have also said they want spending to reach 3% in the next Parliament if fiscal and economic conditions allow. Parliament’s briefing notes put the 2.5% shift at about £6.4 billion more spending in 2027-28 than if budgets had remained at previous levels, underlining the scale of the gap Jarvis now inherits.
The numbers matter because UK defence spending was estimated at 2.3% of GDP in 2024 and 2.4% in 2025, leaving little room for delay if the armed forces are to grow into the new target. The Strategic Defence Review, published in 2025, says the UK must be ready to deter and prevent a full-scale war, and links that requirement directly to the spending commitment.
Jarvis’s remit now places him at the centre of that shift. His responsibilities include implementation of the Strategic Defence Review, the Defence Investment Plan, defence budget allocation, and relations with key partners including the US, France, Germany, Australia and Ukraine, alongside defence reform, veterans issues, AUKUS and GCAP. With Healey and Carns gone, the question is no longer whether the defence review is ambitious, but whether Britain’s political leadership can afford it.
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