Dannatt right to highlight military overstretch

General Sir Richard Dannatt has again commented 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, and he is absolutely right to do so.

 Our troops are still having to make do with tired old vehicles and a crippling shortage of helicopters.

He rightly identifies the problems of fighting two wars at once and it is clear that 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. As I have always stressed it is time to pull out of Iraq to reduce the massive pressure on our Armed Forces, and allow them to refocus on their vital work in Afghanistan.