Defence Chiefs criticise Government's record

3.01.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 23rd Nov 2007

Gordon Brown

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has treated the armed services with "contempt" and "disinterest", a former chief of the defence staff has told a Lords debate. Admiral Lord Boyce said the decision to give one person - Des Browne - the jobs of both defence and Scottish secretary was an "insult" at a time of war. The attack comes on the day new figures show manning levels in the army continue to fall.

Liberal Democrat Defence spokesperson, Nick Harvey said "These figures point to an unsustainable exodus of troops from the Army. The Government has ignored the warnings over manning levels for years and now the overstretch is really beginning to bite. We are paying the price for fighting in two theatres for too long. The Government must set a timetable for a full withdrawal of troops from Iraq to give our forces a chance to recover and continue to fight effectively in Afghanistan. It is clear that there is a fundamental mismatch between resources and commitments. We are asking too much of our Armed Forces and giving them too little in return."