LONDON, June 11 (Xinhua) -- British Armed Forces Minister Al Carns resigned on Thursday, saying the government's defence investment plans were inadequate to address growing security threats and warning that Britain was failing to adapt to the changing nature of modern warfare.
In a resignation letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Carns said the planned Defence Investment Plan was "not built for the threat we face" and was "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," he wrote.
Carns, a former Royal Marine, said the Ukraine conflict had highlighted how rapidly warfare was evolving, arguing that Britain was still procuring capabilities designed for past conflicts while potential adversaries prepared for future forms of warfare.
He also criticised the government's Northern Ireland Legacy Bill, saying it risked failing military veterans who served during the Troubles, a decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland.
Beyond defence policy, Carns accused the government of broader institutional dysfunction, saying decision-making had become too slow and fragmented to respond effectively to mounting challenges.
"Decisions that should take days, take months. Departments fight each other instead of the problem," he wrote.
Carns' resignation came hours after the stepping down of Defence Secretary John Healey, also with disagreements over military spending plans as the main reason, dealing another political setback to Starmer ahead of next month's NATO summit.
