Press Association
Sunday 12th February 2012
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has rejected as "wrong" the criticisms of former military chiefs who accused him of starving the armed forces of funds when he was Chancellor.
And he said it was "incredibly unfair" of Conservatives, including former PM Sir John Major, to accuse him of using a visit to troops in Afghanistan as a party political stunt ahead of the general election.
Mr Brown made a flying visit to Afghanistan immediately after giving evidence last Friday to the Chilcot Inquiry into the war in Iraq, where he insisted he had always provided military commanders with the equipment they requested.
Two former Chiefs of Defence Staff - General Lord Guthrie and Admiral Lord Boyce - later branded his evidence "disingenuous", arguing that while urgent operational requirements were always funded, the Treasury failed to maintain the MoD's overall budget at a level needed to fight two wars.
But in an interview with BFBS, the Forces' broadcaster, Mr Brown on Thursday told presenter Kate Gerbeau: "I think they are wrong. To be honest, I don't think it is appropriate for people to criticise us for not providing what we did provide.
"The urgent operational requirements that were asked for by our forces were always met."
Responding to Sir John's accusation that his visit to Afghanistan in the immediate wake of his appearance before the Chilcot Inquiry and weeks ahead of a general election was "unbecoming conduct for a Prime Minister", Mr Brown said: "I think that is an incredibly unfair accusation.
"I have gone to Afghanistan every year at this time for four years. People are making very politically loaded statements. I was doing my duty as Prime Minister, going to meet our forces."
In response to allegations that the Government was slow to replace the soft-skinned Snatch Land Rover patrol vehicles, which are vulnerable to roadside bombs, Mr Brown said that it was not known for some time in either Iraq or Afghanistan that enemy forces would use guerilla tactics, including home-made bombs, rather than facing allied troops in open battle.
"This happened in Iraq in about 2005/06 and it happened in Afghanistan a bit later," he said. "The moment people realised that this was the nature of the guerilla warfare that was going to be practised, Des Browne the Defence Secretary came to me and said we need to buy new vehicles and we approved those new vehicles immediately."
