Dannatt appointment a "major error"

The decision to appoint General Sir Richard Dannatt as a Conservative defence adviser is a 'major error of judgment', the former head of the civil service has said.

Lord Turnbull made the comments while being questioned by the Commons public administration committee on Thursday.

MPs went on to ask him if a former head of the army could be objective when assessing cuts to defence, to which Lord Turnbull replied: 'You talk to admirals and they are incandescent at this.'

The comments represent yet further complications over the decision by David Cameron to have General Dannatt potentially serving in a future Tory government.

When it was first announced during the Conservative party conference earlier this month, shadow home secretary Chris Grayling misheard a BBC journalist's question and presumed the appointment had been made by Gordon Brown to the government.

The misunderstanding led him to quickly dismiss it as a 'political gimmick' – a position he was quickly forced to withdraw from when he realised it was in fact a Tory appointment.

Lord Turnbull was head of the civil service and Cabinet secretary between 2002 and 2005, when he was replaced by Sir Gus O'Donnell.