By Matthew Champion.
An aide to the defence secretary has resigned over the government's handling of the war in Afghanistan in a major blow to Gordon Brown.
On the eve of a major speech on Afghanistan by the prime minister, Labour MP Eric Joyce resigned as parliamentary private secretary to Bob Ainsworth on Thursday night.
The former army major, MP for Falkirk for nine years, said the British public could not accept for 'much longer that our losses can be justified by simply referring to the risk of greater terrorism on our streets'.
On Thursday the Ministry of Defence announced the death of a UK soldier from the Mercian Regiment, taking the British death-toll since operations began to 212.
In his resignation letter to the prime minister, Mr Joyce said the government had failed to show that its military commitment in Afghanistan was 'high but time-limited'.
'It should be possible now to say that we will move off our present war-footing and reduce our forces there substantially during our next term in government,' he added.
Reacting to the resignation, Mr Ainsworth said in a statement: 'Eric Joyce is, of course, entitled to his opinion and whilst we thank him for his service as a junior parliamentary aide, it is vital that we have a leadership team that is fully committed to our mission in Afghanistan.
'The picture he paints is not one that I nor many people within the MoD recognise, whether military or civilian. Everyone in defence, and the wider government, is fully committed to ensuring that our forces succeed in the operations on which they are engaged in Afghanistan , and that they have the necessary equipment and support to do the job.
'Our mission in Afghanistan is vital to our national security. We will not walk away from that responsibility.'
An aide to the defence secretary has resigned over the government's handling of the war in Afghanistan in a major blow to Gordon Brown.
On the eve of a major speech on Afghanistan by the prime minister, Labour MP Eric Joyce resigned as parliamentary private secretary to Bob Ainsworth on Thursday night.
The former army major, MP for Falkirk for nine years, said the British public could not accept for 'much longer that our losses can be justified by simply referring to the risk of greater terrorism on our streets'.
On Thursday the Ministry of Defence announced the death of a UK soldier from the Mercian Regiment, taking the British death-toll since operations began to 212.
In his resignation letter to the prime minister, Mr Joyce said the government had failed to show that its military commitment in Afghanistan was 'high but time-limited'.
'It should be possible now to say that we will move off our present war-footing and reduce our forces there substantially during our next term in government,' he added.
Reacting to the resignation, Mr Ainsworth said in a statement: 'Eric Joyce is, of course, entitled to his opinion and whilst we thank him for his service as a junior parliamentary aide, it is vital that we have a leadership team that is fully committed to our mission in Afghanistan.
'The picture he paints is not one that I nor many people within the MoD recognise, whether military or civilian. Everyone in defence, and the wider government, is fully committed to ensuring that our forces succeed in the operations on which they are engaged in Afghanistan , and that they have the necessary equipment and support to do the job.
'Our mission in Afghanistan is vital to our national security. We will not walk away from that responsibility.'
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