Prime Minister Keir Starmer has moved swiftly to appoint Dan Jarvis as the UK's Defence Secretary to shore up his flagging premiership after a revolt over armed forces spending.
The former Parachute Regiment officer, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, inherits a Ministry of Defence engulfed in uncertainty and a political row that has exposed deep divisions at the heart of government.
Former defence secretary John Healey's resignation letter on Thursday had delivered a devastating criticism of the government's strategy, stating it "falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time”.
He accused Mr Starmer and the Treasury of failing to provide the resources needed, and his departure was quickly followed by the resignations of Armed Forces minister Al Carns alongside two MP parliamentary aides.
In his resignation letter, Mr Carns, a highly decorated former Royal Marine, said the UK’s “machinery of government has been left to decay” and “decisions that should take days take months while departments fight each other instead of the problem”.
Asked by the BBC about his scathing attack on the government, he responded that “collectively the bureaucracy is actually quite difficult to get through to move things forward at a pace that is required” in the current fast-moving world.
“We need to have a really honest conversation with the population about the threats that we face, and then we need really bold and courageous decisions to put the funding in the right place,” Mr Carns added.
The resignations could not have come at a worse time for the Prime Minister, with the Makerfield byelection less than a week away. The Labour party's candidate, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, has said that, if elected, he would enter any race to replace Mr Starmer in Downing Street.
Attention is now focused on whether the Defence Investment Plan (DIP), intended to be one of the flagship announcements of Mr Starmer's premiership, will proceed in its current form.
Mr Jarvis is due to make his first public appearance as Defence Secretary during a visit on Friday to a drone manufacturing centre, which was originally the centrepiece for the DIP launch.
Officials were scrambling early on Friday to see if the plan could be unveiled as scheduled and whether any formal announcement would be made.
The uncertainty reflects the wider dispute surrounding the DIP, with Mr Healey stating in a devastating critique that the Prime Minister had been “unable, and the Treasury unwilling” to fund the nation’s defence.
He essentially levelled the most serious accusation against the Prime Minister, saying he was not adequately defending the nation.
While defence chiefs argue they need £28 billion in extra funding over four years to rebuild a force capable of meeting modern threats of drones and missiles, the offer was £13 billion, something Mr Healey regarded as untenable.
However, Mr Starmer is still defending the proposal, on the back of last year’s strategic defence review, insisting it represented a “significant and sustainable” increase in defence spending, giving the forces an unprecedented boost.
But the resignations have raised concerns that the final version of the DIP was shaped more by financial constraints than military needs, and whether the programme can retain credibility.
More worryingly for Downing Street, there are reports that senior military figures have privately expressed concerns about the scale of the funding settlement, with the potential for senior officer resignations.
Mr Jarvis now faces the challenge of restoring confidence among military leaders and Labour MPs. The former major entered parliament in 2011 after a distinguished military career that included operational tours in Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone. He later served as mayor of South Yorkshire before joining the government as security minister following Labour's 2024 election victory.
His operational background will give him credibility, but his key task will be the challenge of defending a financial package that his predecessor considered inadequate.
The DIP was intended to demonstrate Labour's commitment to national security and enhance Britain's role on the international stage before the Nato summit in Ankara next month, where Donald Trump will be eager to hear the UK’s defence plans.
By that time, it is entirely possible Mr Starmer is on his way out with Mr Burnham replacing him, but still confronted by the problem of where to find the money to defend Britain.
