A WAR HERO-turned Labour MP was last night appointed the new veterans minister but he won’t sit in Cabinet.
Former Royal Marine Colonel Alistair Carns quit the military in order to stand in the election and fight for Labour.
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And he was extraordinarily parachuted into a Government job on his first day in Parliament.
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer has been under fire for failing to appoint a veterans minister to his Cabinet despite pledging to do so during the campaign.
Risking a major row with campaigners and charities who have insisted the role should be separated from the Ministry of Defence, he announced John Healey will represent veterans at the top table.
Mr Carns will instead run the Office for Veterans’ Affairs with oversight from the Defence Secretary.
Newly-appointed Shadow Veterans Minister Andrew Bowie blasted the move, saying: “Veterans will no longer have a voice banging the drum for them around the Cabinet table. Worse still, they won’t even get a dedicated Minister. The Defence Secretary will become poacher and gamekeeper.”
Until last week, Veterans’ Minister Johnny Mercer attended Cabinet with his role shared between Defence and the Cabinet Office.
Mr Carns gave The Sun’s Never Mind The Ballots his first interview during the election campaign, praising Sir Keir for putting national security “front and centre” and insisting there will be a “doubling down” on the support of Ukraine under Labour.
But the PM is under huge pressure to set out how he will boost defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP.
On the eve of a Nato summit in Washington, Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge demanded answers from the new Government, accusing them of putting the nation at risk with their vague defence policies.
Sir Keir has pledged to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of national income but declined to commit to a date for doing so.
In a scathing letter addressed to Mr Healey, Mr Cartlidge said: “It is high time that you make clear to the country what your plans are on defence spending, and if you are truly committed to 2.5 per cent, then you must urgently clarify by when your government aims to achieve this?
“Anything less than this will cast serious doubt on your apparent commitment to this nation’s
security.”
