DANNATT RIGHT TO HIGHLIGHT MILITARY OVERSTRETCH

12.00.00am GMT Fri 14th Nov 2008

Responding to General Sir Richard Dannatt's comments that ministers must not take 'cheap options' when equipping the Armed Forces, and that the Army is under pressure due to fighting two wars at once, Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey said:

General Dannatt is absolutely right to highlight equipment issues. Our troops are still having to make do with tired old vehicles and a crippling shortage of helicopters.

He is also right to identify the problems of fighting two wars at once. The continuing deployment of British troops in Iraq is massively exacerbating the problems of overstretch faced by our military.

British troops are putting their lives on the line on our behalf. Ministers must give them the equipment they need to do their job. And they must pull out of Iraq to reduce the massive pressure on our Armed Forces, and allow them to refocus on their vital work in Afghanistan.