Labour accused of halving Army vehicle order

Officials travelling with Prime Minister Gordon Brown to visit UK forces in Afghanistan indicated that an announcement was expected within weeks of 100m for 200 new vehicles which will offer better protection to troops.

But Shadow Defence Secretary Liam Fox raised questions about the order, which he said was originally intended to deliver 400 vehicles.

“We have been waiting for years for replacements to the Snatch Land Rovers,” Dr Fox said. “There is one very curious element about this, because the public tender that was put out was for 400 vehicles to replace Snatch. The Prime Minister yesterday said it would be 200. What happened to the other 200?

“In Parliament, I will be tabling questions to find out whether this is yet another cut to the equipment on Treasury orders.”

The soft-skinned Snatch Land Rovers are blamed by troops for many of the deaths caused by roadside bombs planted by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. The new British-built vehicles, due to be delivered by late 2011, are said to offer world-leading armour and high manoeuvrability.

The Tories maintained their attack on the timing of Mr Brown’s visit, which followed his evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War.

The Prime Minister’s evidence that, as Chancellor, he provided the military with everything they asked for has come under fire from former chiefs of the defence staff, who accused him of being “disingenuous”.

Former Tory prime Minister Sir John Major accused Mr Brown of “profoundly unbecoming conduct for a Prime Minister” by using British troops as a “party political prop”.

He said troops could be forgiven for regarding the visit as a “political stunt”.

Downing Street dismissed the suggestion that the visit was politically motivated and was linked to the Chilcot hearing.

Tributes were yesterday paid to an “inspirational” soldier who died in a bomb blast in southern Afghanistan.

Rifleman Jonathon Allott, of 3rd Battalion The Rifles, from Bournemouth, was killed on Friday while on foot patrol near Sangin in Helmand Province.

In a statement, his family said Rfn Allott “died a hero doing the job he loved”.