One of the biggest mistakes David Cameron has made as leader of the opposition was the announcement at Tory party conference that Sir Richard Dannatt was to become a Tory peer and would likely serve in a Tory government. It devalued all of Dannatt’s previous criticisms of the government over its treatment of the army and the equipment shortages in Afghanistan. They no longer looked like the words of a general standing up for his men regardless of the political consequences but party political point scoring.
It also showed a lack of confidence in the current Tory defence team. Indeed, Cameron had to go out of his way to say that Liam Fox would be defence secretary in his conference speech in an attempt to right this. But, most importantly, it infuriated the military who felt it threatened to subvert the chain of command as well as compromise the forces’ political impartiality.
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