Following the resignations of John Healey and Al Carns, Hamish de Bretton-Gordon writes in the Telegraph that Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, who as Chief of the Defence Staff is the professional head of the armed forces, should now "show that he represents British servicemen and women by falling on his sword as well", because –

Given the colossal insult that has just been offered to all the armed services – nobody in defence was apparently allowed to see the funding figures until this week – I believe that the Chief of the Defence Staff, the head of the Armed Forces, should also do the honourable thing.

Colonel de Bretton-Gordon is an all-round good guy who is always worth reading and listening to. His call for CDS to resign is, after all, only a newspaper column about which we could go on for ever agreeing or disagreeing.

The last very senior officer to resign on a point of principle is thought to be General Sir Richard O'Connor, who resigned as Adjutant-General in 1947 over the cancelled return home and demobilisation of troops in the Far East. (Monty had a different version of events, but the cancelled demob was a reasonable point to resign over.)

As far as I know, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton is not a member of British Armed Forces Federation (BAFF). BAFF is all-ranks, tri-service but I believe we have yet to recruit any RAF officer above

The resignation of John Healey MP as Defence Secretary marks the end of a period in which, whatever one's political views, Defence had at its head someone who had prepared thoroughly for it in Opposition and, when the time came, did not disappoint.

I haven't met Mr Healey personally, but I've heard him speak a couple of times at RUSI events, and came away impressed by both his grasp of the issues and the evident work he had put into understanding the challenges facing Defence and Armed Forces personnel. In a field where easy slogans can sometimes substitute for detailed knowledge, he struck me as someone who had done his homework.

BAFF has not always agreed with every policy of successive governments, nor would anyone expect us to. Our role is to represent and promote the interests of our members – Service personnel and veterans – irrespective of party politics. However, it is only fair to acknowledge those ministers who engage seriously with Defence and who make the effort to listen.

Mr Healey inherited a department which inevitably faced significant personnel, recruitment and retention challenges, whichever party was in power. Although much of today's reporting understandably concentrates on the crucial defence investment aspect, RUSI's Ed Arnold has highlighted Mr Healey's efforts on defence reform:

'For the MoD, it is a very rare case of a senior minister taking a principled stand against the hollowing out of the UK armed