Grayling: Dannatt appointment a gimmick
Gaffe from Chris Grayling at Tory conference after he says appointment of Richard Dannatt as adviser is a "gimmick"
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By Richard James. |  |
Wednesday, 07, Oct 2009 05:14
By Matthew Champion.
David Cameron's own shadow home secretary has dubbed the expected appointment of General Sir Richard Dannatt as a Conservative adviser as a "political gimmick".
Chris Grayling made the comments in an interview after news of former army chief Gen Dannatt's future role emerged.
It is understood he misunderstood or misheard the question, from BBC presenter Emily Maitlis, thinking it referred to a possible move by Gordon Brown.
Mr Grayling was asked: "General Dannatt being lined up to be a junior defence minister in a future Tory government. Can you tell us more about this?"
He then replied: "I admire the work of General Dannatt and other senior generals who've done so much in Afghanistan and done so much to lead.
"I hope that this isn't a political gimmick. We've seen too many appointments in this government of external people where it's all been about Gordon Brown's PR.
"General Dannatt's an experienced figure and should rightly be working alongside government. I'm always suspicious of government's motives when he does things like this."
Mr Grayling later clarified his remarks, saying he thought the appointment would be a "good idea".
Gen Dannatt, former chief of the general staff, became increasingly outspoken against the government's performance in Afghanistan towards the end of his period in office.
He is expected to be elevated to the House of Lords in the event of a Conservative general election victory, where he will advise the Tories on defence matters.
Gen Dannatt is unlikely to be appointed to a ministerial brief but could play a part in any war cabinet created by Mr Cameron.
Earlier this week Mr Brown faced accusations from the former chief of the general staff he had turned down a direct request for more troops in Afghanistan.
His appointment as a Tory adviser had originally been envisaged as a major part of Mr Cameron's closing speech to conference tomorrow afternoon.