‘Unbelievable’ waste and inefficiency at MoD, says ex-defence minister Al Carns

Exclusive: Carns, who quit last week, says he was angered by unwillingness to confront sunk costs of legacy programmes

There is “unbelievable” waste and inefficiency at the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the former armed forces minister Al Carns has said, adding that every time he would “turn a stone over” he would get another shock.

Carns said that during his time as a defence minister he had been angered by the unwillingness to confront the sunk costs of legacy programmes – and suggested mismanaged programmes such as tanks investment should be scrapped in favour of new technology.

In an interview with the Guardian, the former special forces soldier said Labour had “one chance” to change and seek new leadership but was scathing about the situation the party found itself in.

“I don’t think we could have got this more wrong – but we’re in it now. My goodness, make the change once if you’re going to, get on with it and get the country back on track,” he said.

Carns, who quit as a defence minister after John Healey resigned as defence secretary last Thursday, has been widely discussed as a potential leadership candidate.

But he said he was more interested in sparking a policy debate than becoming prime minister: “If we get that policy debate wrong, we are not going to win in two-and-a-half years’ time. And we’re going to hand the country to a potentially far-right party that will split the nation apart.”

Carns, 46, said he had fundamentally disagreed with the direction of the defence investment plan (Dip), suggesting he had not quit to support Healey but to make his own public interventions.