Ex-army chief calls for £15bn to 'save the Forces'

The country must invest heavily in troops and equipment or opt out of its role in the war on terror and as a leading player in peacekeeping missions, the Conservative Way Forward group said.

It said the armed forces are already so overstretched by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan that they would be unable to react effectively to any further crises.

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The group was backed by General Lord Guthrie, the former armed forces chief, who warned that years of underfunding has put Britain on the brink of a military disaster.

Lord Guthrie - one of five former chiefs of defence staff who last week attacked Gordon Brown's treatment of the armed forces - said it is foolish to believe there are "no votes in defence."

"There are certainly going to be an awful lot of votes in defence if the British services suffer disaster," he said. "There have been one or two occasions recently where we have come very near to a disaster."

Lord Guthrie was speaking at the Tory group's launch of a pamphlet calling for defence spending to be increased by £3billion annually over the next five years.

It was compiled by Bernard Jenkin MP, a member of the Commons Defence Select Committee and former shadow Defence Secretary. He said Labour had neglected defence while increasing spending on education by 48 per cent and on health by 66 per cent - cash which was largely wasted on bureaucracy.

Meanwhile, other countries, including the U.S., China and Russia, have been injecting huge sums into their military budgets.

Suggesting that Britain needs 130,000 troops, almost 50,000 more than the current figure, Mr Jenkin said: "This and any future government has a choice. Either we bulk up on defence or we opt out of our global role.

"Given the strategic environment this is no choice, we have to bulk up."

The Prime Minister also came under attack from the Liberal Democrats, who accused him in the Commons of not caring about the welfare of services personnel.

Acting leader Vincent Cable said: "Isn't the truth at the end of it that the troops lack adequate equipment, lack adequate medical care, lack adequate accommodation?

"Isn't the underlying truth that where the armed forces are concerned, fundamentally you are not interested and don't care?"

Mr Brown retorted: "I will do everything in my power to defend and protect the security of our armed forces".

Last week, another ex- defence chief, Admiral Lord Boyce said there would be "blood on the floor" of the MoD over a funding shortfall which was putting servicemen's lives at risk.