‘Has-been’ Dannatt abandons Tories
By politics.co.uk staff
Outspoken former Army chief General Sir Richard Dannatt has revealed he stopped working for the Conservatives after the general election.
The senior military figure in Britain’s Army stepped down from the role last summer but was unveiled only months later, at the Conservative party conference in Manchester, as an advisor to the Tories on defence issues.
“I’ve retired from that,” he told Sky News.
“My motivation always was to act in the best interests of the defence of the realm, the safety of our citizens and the well-being of the armed forces so I was quite content as a public servant to give whatever advice his team wanted while they were preparing for government.
“But I said to David Cameron before the election that should he become prime minister then his proper military advice should come from the chiefs of staff and not from a has-been like me.”
Gen Sir Richard broke Whitehall convention by placing political pressure on the New Labour government to provide his troops with better equipment and support.
He repeated those claims in his appearance at the Iraq inquiry last week, saying the Army nearly “seized up” at the height of the insurgency in 2006.
