Al Carns: “I want to see a higher percentage for uncrewed systems, AI, data – data is the new gunpowder – and we’ve got to move…”

I resigned in June because I did not believe the defence funding on the table was adequate for the threats this country faces. I said so publicly and I still stand by every word.

Until the country was spending what it needed to spend on defence, I would keep making that case from the backbenches.

John resigned for the same reasons I did. He is a man of his word and he has made it clear that he will deliver on the commitments that led him to leave government in the first place.

I said so publicly and I still stand by every word.