Gordon Brown launched an attack on the “corrupt” government of Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai yesterday – but vowed UK troops would fight on in the country.
The prime minister warned Mr Karzai he would lose international support if he failed to clean up. Mr Brown said: “I am not prepared to put the lives of British men and women in harm’s way for a government that does not stand up against corruption.”
But he also insisted: “We cannot and will not walk away.”
And Downing Street said his speech on the Afghanistan conflict should not be seen as a threat to pull out if Mr Karzai fails to carry out reforms.
Mr Brown addressed high-ranking military officers in London before a Lords debate in which former Chief of Defence Staff General Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank accused him of “dithering” over 500 extra troops and of having failed to provide adequate numbers of helicopters to prevent the loss of British lives.
Last night, Gordon Liberal Democrat MP Malcolm Bruce said the prime minister appeared “very confused”, adding: “He is trying to allay the concerns of people about casualties while giving the impression he won’t support the Karzai government but will complete the task.”
Mr Bruce, who visited Afghanistan with the Commons international development committee he chairs, warned that a pullout would lead to Pakistan falling to the Taliban as well.
He said the need was for the UK to circumvent Mr Karzai to show local people they benefited from international involvement with better schools, health provision and employment.
Moray MP Angus Robertson, who is SNP defence spokesman, said: “The awful toll of military personnel killed in Afghanistan, along with questions over the legitimacy of the Afghan elections, has left people asking just what our forces are fighting for.
“It is time that we had a major rethink that looks at all the options, and that will give people the confidence that the right strategy is being pursued and is achievable.”
But Aberdeen North Labour MP Frank Doran said it was crucial Mr Brown made clear to Mr Karzai where the UK stood, adding: “I do not think a war to prop up a corrupt government is sustainable.”
Tory shadow defence secretary Liam Fox accused Mr Brown of uttering “empty threats”.
He said: “We must put pressure on the Karzai government to improve governance and tackle corruption, but if our mission in Afghanistan is a national security imperative, it can’t be conditional on the behaviour of others.”
Mr Brown’s speech followed the deaths of the five troops and a suggestion by former Labour foreign minister Kim Howells that the money and effort expended on the military effort in Afghanistan would be better spent on anti-terror measures in the UK.
Mr Brown set out five tough tests for the Karzai government on security, governance, reconciliation, economic development and engagement with its neighbours.
The prime minister said: “If the government fails to meet these five tests, it will have not only failed its own people, it will have forfeited its right to international support.”