Your 'false' claims damage troop morale, Tories told

12 April 2012

Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth accuses the Tories of threatening troop morale in Afghanistan with 'false claims' about equipment shortages.

He went on the offensive after months of criticism of the Government over the number of helicopters, type of armoured vehicles and other kit being provided for Britain's 9,000 soldiers in the war-torn country.

Mr Ainsworth singled out shadow defence secretary Liam Fox, accusing him of not "bothering to check his facts" notably over the sending of Ridgeback armoured vehicles to Afghanistan, insisting this was being done ahead of schedule.

The Defence Secretary was due to tell Labour's annual rally in Brighton: "Liam, false claims don't just damage the Government.

"They risk damaging the morale of both our troops and the public.

"They risk damaging the mission."

Amid falling public support for the war, Mr Ainsworth warned against pulling out British forces too quickly.

"The terrorists would be characterised as the winners, we would be the losers," he was due to add.

Mr Ainsworth's speech came as the body of a soldier killed in Afghanistan was being repatriated today.

Private James Prosser, 21, from 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh, was killed in an explosion in Musa Qala in the southern Helmand province on Sunday, bringing the UK military death toll in the eight-year conflict to 218.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in