Defence resignation highlights Labour's failings

Liam Fox has reacted to the resignation of Eric Joyce – a key aide to the Defence Minister, saying that his assessment of Labour defence policy is "one that both service personnel and the public will recognise".

He said it is "extraordinary" that Labour ministers still don’t know what is going on at the Ministry of Defence, adding that they have had 12 years of "serial incompetence" in running the MoD.

Little fresh thinking in Brown’s Afghan speech says Nick Clegg

Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats:

“The situation in Afghanistan is on a knife-edge. Yet today we have heard little in the way of fresh, new thinking from Gordon Brown," said the Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Commenting on Gordon Brown’s speech on Afghanistan, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:

“The situation in Afghanistan is on a knife-edge. Yet today we have heard little in the way of fresh, new thinking from Gordon Brown.

“After pursuing an overambitious and under-resourced strategy for eight years it’s hard to believe that increasing the training of the Afghan police and army will now do the trick. We need a bolder change of strategy to turn things around. When it comes to Afghanistan, we need to do things properly or not at all.

“Despite the recent elections being plagued by fraud and low turnout, Gordon Brown has chosen not to take a stance on this issue. He must realise that a second round of elections is now necessary to ensure Afghanistan gets a president with legitimacy without which the conflict against the Taliban will be all the more difficult.”

PM MUST RETHINK NOT RE-STATE AFGHAN STRATEGY

Commenting after the Prime Minister delivered a speech on Afghanistan this afternoon (Friday) SNP Westminster leader and Defence spokesperson Angus Robertson MP repeated calls for a rethink of UK strategy warning that a re-statement of the mission was not enough to convince people that the best strategy was being pursued.

Mr Robertson, who visited forces on the frontline in Afghanistan earlier this year, has repeatedly called for a strategic review of operations and objectives.

Mr Robertson said:

“If Gordon Brown wants to convince people the best course is being pursued he must rethink strategy, not just re-state it. The fact is, the prime minister cannot convince his own MPs the best strategy is being pursued, never mind the public or our forces themselves.

“Gordon Brown does not seem to recognise that we need a major rethink to win hearts and minds here at home as well as the support of people in Afghanistan .

“That strategic review of operations must convince people that a proper strategy and proper objectives are being pursued with the likelihood of success. Right now people are not even sure that our forces are getting the equipment they need to do the job.

“The Taliban were meant to have been defeated eight years ago, but after operations exceeding the length of the Second World War, the fact that fighting has gotten worse underlines the folly of the Labour government's decision to take us into Iraq . Distracted by the Iraq quagmire, the government took its eye off the ball in Afghanistan .

“Now, the awful toll of military personnel killed in Afghanistan , along with questions over the legitimacy of the Afghan elections, has left people asking just what our forces are fighting for.

“It is time we had a major rethink that looks at all the options, and that will give people, not least our troops themselves, the confidence that the right strategy is being pursued and is achievable.”

PRESSURE PILES ON BROWN OVER AFGHANISTAN

PM FACES MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT EQUIPMENT AND SPIN

Pressure is piling on Gordon Brown to answer yet more questions about how his government is dealing with the campaign in Afghanistan after a series of newspaper reports highlighted serious concerns about equipment and reporting of the campaign.

The Prime Minister faces continuing questions over whether troops are being provided with the necessary equipment to tackle the Taliban after it emerged in today's Daily Telegraph that life-saving vehicles built to withstand roadside bombs have been stranded in Dubai for the past month, while the Daily Mail reports that Defence chiefs warning that new Merlin helicopters being sent to Afghanistan lack Kevlar armour, making them vulnerable to small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

In a separate development, it has also emerged in the Guardian that a military press officer is set to sue the MoD claiming that he was forced to tell "government lies" to the families of British soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan – by leading bereaved families and the media to believe that the soldiers had been properly equipped when they were killed, something he had come to believe was untrue and "morally indefensible".

SNP Westminster leader and Defence spokesperson Angus Robertson MP said the Prime Minister had serious questions to answer about his previous claims that there were enough helicopters in Afghanistan .

Mr Robertson said:

“To send brave soldiers into harms way without the equipment they need is unforgivable, inexcusable and a breach of trust. Gordon Brown cannot dodge the serious questions that are mounting about equipment in Afghanistan . He is already exposed for saying there were enough helicopters only to have Bob Ainsworth contradict that claim by saying he was 'busting a gut' to get more helicopters into theatre.

“It is extraordinary that today's reports say life-saving vehicles built to withstand Taliban roadside bombs have been parked-up in Dubai for the last month – during one of the bloodiest periods in the conflict. It is equally unbelievable that the new Merlin helicopters lack Kevlar armour. That armour would cost just £100,000 – a drop in the ocean compared to the billions Labour want to waste on a new generation of Trident nuclear missiles.

"To compound these latest revelations we also have those of a military press officer revealing that he could no longer tell "government lies" to bereaved families about equipment.

"These are serious allegations and they now put Gordon Brown under serious pressure.

“What he needs to do is end his defensiveness over questions about equipment and start delivering the kit that is needed by our forces on the frontline.”

We need a comprehensive strategy in Afghanistan

William Hague has stressed a “comprehensive strategy” must be put in place to bring about a stable Afghanistan.

He said there was “nothing new” about David Miliband’s suggestion that moderate elements of the Taliban are included in talks in Afghanistan.

And he made clear that this must be only one element of our approach:

“(Our) strategy must include clear, tightly drawn, realistic objectives that are regularly reviewed, more rapid development of the Afghan security forces, and ensuring that the gains won by British forces on the battlefield are swiftly followed by reconstruction.”

“Above all, the British Government must ensure that our troops are properly equipped for the crucial operations they are involved in, including the earliest possible increase in the number of helicopters and armoured vehicles.”