General Sir Richard Dannatt, the former head of the army who repeatedly clashed with ministers over troop levels and equipment in Afghanistan, is to join the Conservatives as a military adviser.
David Cameron will announce in his closing speech to the Tory conference that Dannatt will become a working peer, paving the way for him to serve as a defence minister after the election.
Some Tories expressed unease about the appointment saying it handed an easy victory to labour, which stood accused recently of running a 'smear' campaign against Dannatt.
The tories are planning to axe thousands of jobs within the MoD if they win the next election and they have asked civil servants at the MoD to draw up plans to reduce the cost of running the government department by 25% before 2012.
There are no plans to reduce the number of uninformed personnel to reach the 25% target, but instead sweeping cuts would be applied to the 89,300 strong workforce of civilian staff employed.
I would have preferred Sir Richard to be a cross-bencher if he intends to go to the Lords because that is the tradition for former defence chiefs but of course it's his choice.
The purge of the MoD is more than welcome. Perhaps a trimmed department will be more efficient than the present bloated Whitehall.
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I thought it was crass stupidity to talk about Richard Dannatt's future politics.
It has had the effect of undermining the comments that Dannatt has made about the underfunding of the war in Afghanistan.
Labour can say with some justification that his criticism was politically motivated, or motivated by his desire for a seat in the Lords and his willingness do the Tories' bidding to get it.
I don't particularly believe that, but then, I'm not a Labour supporter.
It will, however, give Brown and the detestable Aintworth a good excuse for ignoring the meat of Dannatt's comments. The losers will be the poor lads on the front line and that is inexcusable.
Both Dannatt and Cameron should have handled this a lot better. I know it's a coup for Cameron, but I trust that he is not going to value coups over soldiers' lives.
As for the Grayling character! What a fool! Is this the calibre of the front bench we will have in a few months' time? It means that nothing that comes out of this man's mouth can be believed.
Good start, you twerp!
I am more than a little disappointed.
Dannatt, was a soldier of merit with a broad practical understanding of life as it really is for our front line troops. In his retirement, he could have been the voice of reason and positive improvement for the military. His opinion and comment carried considerable kudos.
But, now, in a moment of madness, he has sold it all for Cameron’s shilling.
How disappointed Dannatt must be, to see how badly the Tories have mismanaged the whole event. Effectively his voice as being one for reason and necessary change has been neutralised, Labour must be delighted.
He has been left as being no more than Cameron’s pet political puppet soldier.
A sad result.
Yes Tris, it's shown the tories to be no better than labour at the way they handle PR.
I too am disappointed John. Such a pity he hadn't decided to be independent.
Lending his reputation to a bunch of Westmidden opportunist chancers who make policy promises on the hoof;
...it will end in tears for himself and others somewhere down the line.
... and as with the 'in' mob Westmidden charlatans at present, they're just more of a sameness really.
Same old, same old shiiiiiiiiiiiiite.
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They are indeed wisnaeme. So sad England doesn't have a party with a reasonable agenda.
more likely to find the forces havingthe tasks civilian staff used to do added to their duties....
CallMeDave says he'll reduce the MoD by 25% Niko, so that wouldn't surprise me. It would be possibly more efficient if it was run by ex-army staff.
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