Who is Al Carns? Former Marine and Labour minister with sights on leadership
A former special forces colonel, government minister Al Carns was this week on manouevres warning that the UK needs to be preparing for war with Russia.“The shadow of war is knocking on Europe’s door once more.That’s the reality.We’ve got to be prepared to deter it,” he said, in comments that go beyond previous warnings by his boss, the defence secretary, John Healey.“Collectively, everybody – what is their role if we get caught in an existential crisis, and what do they need to be aware they need to do and what they can’t do, and how do we mobilise the nation to support a military endeavour?”It was stark language from the 45-year-old Scottish-born MP, who has had an exceptionally swift rise to his role of armed forces minister.
And inevitably for a politician with a background in the armed forces, there is speculation about whether he is future leadership material – as with, at various points, Dan Jarvis, Clive Lewis, Tom Tugendhat, James Cleverly and Penny Mordaunt before him.This time, however, some Labour MPs think there could be a real prospect of Carns being a contender if and when the opportunity arises.One of the reasons for that is that Carns has been involved in politics for longer than it seems, as a former military adviser to three defence secretaries: Mordaunt, Michael Fallon and Gavin Williamson.But there is also the risk of being overhyped as a Labour politician with a backstory colleagues think will appeal to the public – without enough consideration of whether they have the experience and political instincts to make it to the top.Carns was born in Aberdeen, and state educated, before enlisting in the Royal Marines in 1999 at the age of 19.
He rose through the ranks and was awarded the Military Cross in 2011 “in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Afghanistan during the period 1 October 2010 to 31 March 2011”.It came as a surprise when he resigned from the armed forces after 24 years of service to run as a Labour MP in Birmingham Selly Oak, shortly before he was due to be promoted to brigadier.And in a sign he was immediately earmarked as a talent, the prime minister appointed him as a junior veterans minister straight after the 2024 election.He was promoted in September this year to the more senior role with a portfolio covering all the military.Chiselled and confident, Carns has been an occasional media performer for the government, and has been an effective political attack dog when putting pressure on Reform over Russia after the conviction of its former politician Nathan Gill for accepting bribes.
He has also found time to break a world record this year along with former military colleagues by climbing Mount Everest in under five days without acclimatising on the mountain, aided by xenon gas.His name entered the conversation as a possible future leader in earnest around the time of the deputy contest in September, when his supporters began canvassing colleagues about a run for the job.That failed to get off the ground, with No 10 firmly backing Bridget Phillipson and more critical MPs coalescing around Lucy Powell.Since then, profiles of Carns have begun to appear in the media, with the Mail on Sunday several weeks ago presenting him as the “Action Man” Downing Street was trying to prevent from ousting the prime minister.While some Labour MPs think he could be leadership material, others think he is making himself appear too ambitious when there is no vacancy in No 10.
There is also a wariness about the rapid rise of a high flyer from outside politics after Keir Starmer’s ascent.“There’s no evidence that being senior in the military translates to being any good at politics any more than being a top prosecutor,” says one Labour MP.“He is completely untested.”
Maria Balshaw to step down as director of Tate after nine years
Maria Balshaw is to step down as the director of Tate in 2026, after a challenging nine-year tenure when she steered the organisation through the Covid-19 pandemic and had to deal with fluctuating attendance figures and financial instability.Balshaw, who joined as director in June 2017 after a celebrated spell as the leader of the Whitworth in Manchester, said it was a privilege to serve as director but now was the time for her to move on.She said: “With a growing and increasingly diverse audience, and with a brilliant forward plan in place, I feel now is the right time to pass on the baton to the next director. My greatest thrill has always been to work closely with artists, and so it is fitting that Tracey Emin’s exhibition will be my final project at Tate.”Balshaw was described as a “trailblazer” by the Tate chair, Roland Rudd, who said she “has never wavered from her core belief – that more people deserve to experience the full richness of art, and more artists deserve to be part of that story”
‘Astonishing’: how Stanley Baxter’s TV extravaganzas reached 20 million
The description “special” is overused in television schedules; Stanley Baxter’s programmes justify it. The comedian is one of the few stars whose reputation rests on a handful of astonishing one-offs – standalone comic extravaganzas screened in the 1970s and 1980s, first by ITV’s London Weekend Television and then the BBC.In both cases, the networks ended their associations with Baxter not because of lack of audience interest – at their peak, the shows reached more than 20 million viewers – but due to the colossal costs demanded by the performer’s vast and perfectionist visual ambition. One of Baxter’s favourite conceits was to re-create, in witty pastiche, scenes from big-budget Hollywood movies that made it look as if his versions had also spent millions of dollars.Cashflow was further stretched by the fact that Baxter played multiple roles – 18 of them in one sketch
Barbican to close its doors for a year for multimillion-pound renovation
The Barbican will close its doors for 12 months from June 2028 as it undergoes a multimillion-pound renovation that its leaders say will secure its future.The arts organisation’s Beech Street cinemas will remain open but its theatre, music venue, conservatory and visual arts galleries are set to shutter as the overhaul of the 43-year-old building begins in the lead-up to its 50th anniversary in 2032.The main Barbican site will close its doors in June 2028 and reopen in June 2029, but some disruption will happen before that as the foyer, lakeside area and internal control room are all renovated.The conservatory, which is open only for a few hours at the weekend and currently has netting to stop falling glass, will close earlier, in 2027.Philippa Simpson, the director of buildings and renewal at the Barbican, said the work could not be completed while the site was open to the public as it would be too dangerous, but that it was essential to secure the site’s future
Seth Meyers to Trump: ‘You can’t convince people the economy is good when they can see the truth’
Late-night hosts recapped Donald Trump’s attempts to reassure Americans on the economy as the private sector sheds jobs and grocery prices keep rising.Seth Meyers devoted his main segment on Wednesday’s Late Night to the US economy, which has seen better days. “Costs of everything, from food to electricity, are soaring while employers are shedding jobs,” he explained. “This is when a president needs to show empathy and demonstrate that he knows the plight of hardworking Americans, and – oh no, as I’m saying this I’m remembering who I’m talking about and realizing that there’s no fucking way he’s going to do that.”Instead the president, in an interview with Politico this week, gave the economy the grade of “A+++++”
Jimmy Kimmel on Trump: ‘What a child he is’
Late-night hosts dug into Donald Trump’s back-pedaling over footage of the controversial Venezuela boat strikes and a White House UFC fight for his 80th birthday.On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host checked in on the US president’s economy talk, as he once again condemned use of the word “affordability”:“The reason he’s out talking about the economy is that he wants to convince us that it’s good, which it isn’t,” Kimmel explained. “But we also don’t know how bad it is because we stopped reporting job numbers. It’s like if the NBA just stopped keeping score. ‘We won
Jon Stewart on Fifa’s peace prize: ‘An entirely fictitious golden butt plug’
Late-night hosts mocked Donald Trump for gleefully accepting the inaugural Fifa peace prize ahead of the World Cup in the US.On the daily show on Monday evening Jon Stewart roasted Donald Trump for accepting the inaugural Fifa peace prize at the World Cup draw on Friday. “Oh my God, he won the prize specifically created to appease him!” he joked. “The Fifa appease prize!“I don’t know if you guys got a good look at the trophy, but come on,” he laughed before a photo of the trophy, sculpted to appear as though several hands rising from below cupped the world.“I think its design somewhat reflects, in all likelihood, how it was conceived
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