Brown stresses 'respect' for forces

Tory leader David Cameron sought to step up the pressure on the Prime Minister, backing calls by five former chiefs of defence staff for him to appoint a "full-time" Defence Secretary.

It followed Thursday's bruising attack in the House of Lords when the former chiefs lined up to complain that the decision to make Des Browne the Scottish Secretary as well Defence Secretary was an "insult" to the forces.

Mr Brown, in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, for the Commonwealth summit, sought to defuse the latest row to rock the Government, stressing his commitment to providing the forces with the resources they needed.

"I have got nothing but praise for our Armed Forces. I have visited them in Iraq and Afghanistan and what they are doing are acts of great courage," he said.

"Every year of this Government we have increased expenditure on defence. I want to match the professionalism of our Armed Forces, the determination they show, with the resources they need. I have got enormous respect for our Armed Forces."

At the end of a week dominated by fresh worries about Northern Rock, the loss of sensitive personal details of 25 million people on the child benefit database, and a further fall in Labour's opinion poll rating, Mr Brown insisted that he was simply getting on with the job.

"The test is how a government deals with some of these crises. I believe people will look at what we have done and they will see we are dealing with these problems as best we can in a way that is competent," he said.

Mr Cameron, however, said the Prime Minister must now heed the advice of the ex-defence chiefs and appoint a Defence Secretary able to devote his total attention to the job "unencumbered by other responsibilities within Government".

Mr Browne, however, insisted that he was fully committed to his job as Defence Secretary, saying: "I would put my record both in relation to commitment and delivery up against anyone's."