'Grumpy' Al Carns considered resigning multiple times over Veteran's Bill as ex-defence minister reveals he was invited into No10 ONCE

"Grumpy" former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns said he considered resigning multiple times over over Veteran's Bill as he revealed he was only invited to No10 once.

Speaking to GB News's Christopher Hope, the Colonel said he had been considering resigning "for a long time" due to two things - the Northern Ireland Legacy Act and him not being included in the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) talks, which made him "grumpy".

He said: "There's two things I've been considering for a long time: one is the Northern Ireland Legacy Act, and I've been on the cusp of resigning a couple of times on that, and secondly was around not being included in the Defense Investment Plan, which with 24 years experience, and probably more combat experience than most."

"I know what the Armed Forces need, and I also know how to challenge the Armed Forces in some preconceived ideas of what they think they need, and I wasn't including that, and I was pretty grumpy about it."

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On the Veterans' Bill, the MP for Birmingham Selly Oak said the legislation is creating a "hierarchy of truth in Northern Ireland".

He said to the People's Channel: "We're creating a hierarchy of truth in Northern Ireland, one is around legacy inquests and inquiries, and the other one is around the Independent Commission.

"My view is the Independent Commission should be the only body to seek truth, reconciliation and justice.

"Some of those inquests need to continue, but I'd like to see the majority of them, if not all of them, pushed into the independent inquiry, mirroring the same way that South Africa did its reconciliation, so we don't drag our veterans back to court, and importantly, we don't rewrite history."

Despite feeling "grumpy" over him being shunned from DIP talks and the Veterans' Bill, Colonel Carns backed Sir Keir Starmer to stay as Prime Minister.

He told GB News: "I think the Prime Minister needs to stay. We need to steady the ship. Dan Jarvis has just gone into Defence Secretary of State, he's a good man, parachute regiment background, good soldier in his day, so he'll have a good hand in steadying the portfolio."

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