Mixing War And Politics In Britain

Greetings from Britain, where we're just recovering from a major shock to our political system. Our opposition Conservative Party has recruited a man called General Sir Richard Dannatt as an advisor. He may even become a Government Minister next year if they win the next election.

The problem is that he was still Head of the British Army up to a few weeks ago, which may seem nothing very remarkable to a nation once served so well by a soldier and a President called Eisenhower, but it has enraged most of the political class over here.

Lord Turnbull, who used to run our entire civil service, led the assault. The recruitment of a General to a political party was, he said, a major error of judgement.

You see, here in Britain, the idea of a soldier stepping onto the political stage is novel and dangerous. An essential ingredient of military service in this country is that the soldiers -- especially the most senior -- are supposed to hold no political views at all. They are like civil servants, simply putting into effect the wishes of the government, whichever party is in power. You cannot have a General who is a declared political opponent of the government implementing its policy.

And then there is trust. General Dannatt has claimed that our Prime Minister -- our LABOUR Prime Minister -- Gordon Brown turned down his advice to commit 2,000 more troops to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan. But now we know he is joining the Conservative Party, can we believe him any more? How can a Prime Minister trust a serving General who has an eye on a future political career?

And then there are the British Admirals -- the men who run the Royal Navy. We don't have a very big Navy any more, but we still have a lot of Admirals. And they will simply not accept that a former ARMY man should be deciding on their future. They are said to be incandescent at the General's move.

Even other Conservatives have expressed doubt. In a moment of pure comedy, their own Homeland Security Spokesman, hearing that General Dannatt was about to move into politics, described it as a gimmick -- before discovering that it was own party the General was joining.

All of which seems very persuasive to me until I look across the Atlantic where your major military figures seem to step easily into a political role without any fuss at all. Look at Colin Powell. But then you have actors who become Governors and Presidents as well. I am not sure we are ready for that yet.

Last week, Gordon Brown was asked: 'Which is more dangerous -- politicians becoming Generals, or Generals becoming politicians? That convinced me we are right and you are wrong on this one. The idea of one of our politicians becoming a General really is too frightening to contemplate.
By Peter Allen