Ex-army chief recruited by Tories

Ex-army chief General Sir Richard Dannatt has been recruited by the Tories in the wake of his bitter public spat with Gordon Brown, it was disclosed today.

Sir Richard is to be given a seat in the House of Lords and a role advising the Conservative defence team.

David Cameron is set to announce the appointment formally during his keynote speech at the party’s conference in Manchester today.

But the impact of the move was quickly reduced when one of Mr Cameron’s own senior ministers branded it a “political gimmick”.

Sir Richard – who stepped down as Chief of the General Staff in August – renewed his attack on the Prime Minister yesterday, claiming Mr Brown had refused to send an extra 2,000 troops to Afghanistan because it was “too expensive”.

Asked on BBC Radio 5 Live why the recommendation had been turned down earlier this year, he replied: “Because it was going to be too expensive. Simple as that.”

Sir Richard said Mr Brown was swayed by “alternative” proposals which said the mission in Afghanistan could be accomplished with fewer troops and different tactics.

“But if you ask military people for their military advice, and we look at the task on the ground and the number of troops we need to do the job effectively, it came out to 9,800,” he added.

“Therefore it was very disappointing, to say the least, that the advice was not accepted and a major factor was the issue of the cost.”

Sir Richard also suggested that Number 10 was ignoring the view of Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth that the force strength should be boosted.

“I think Bob has got it, I think Bob wants to do it,” he said. “It is down to Number 10.”

However, Downing Street insisted it was “simply wrong” to claim the Prime Minister had refused a request from the military for more troops, and pointed out that levels had already gone up from 7,800 in 2007 to some 9,000.

The government could indicate its willingness to increase that number further before Mr Cameron’s speech. Mr Brown is due to chair a meeting of the key National Security, International Relations and Development Cabinet Committee’s Afghanistan and Pakistan sub-group (NSID-AfPak).

Speculation over Sir Richard’s future was fuelled this morning when he said he would “theoretically” be interested in joining a Tory Government.

Asked about the army chief, Mr Cameron then said: “I have spoken to him on previous occasions, as well as recently, about his views about how we improve our armed services and support their families and make sure we rebuild that military covenant, how we successfully pursue what we are doing in Afghanistan.

“He is a man of great talent and ability. He has been a great public servant and I think he has more to do.”