He told Gordon Brown: "May I remind the Prime Minister ever since we went back into Afghanistan in 2003, I have repeatedly warned a succession of Defence Ministers even 300,000 troops would not be sufficient to succeed in the task they have been set, a figure senior American generals have echoed in recent months?


"Why, yet again, despite the grim history of our interventions in Afghanistan over the years, have this government sent an undermanned, under equipped army there to face the situation we all see has now emerged, which was inevitable in the circumstances?"


The Prime Minister replied: "We have made progress in Afghanistan, and I disagree with that the honourable gentleman has said. There are millions of children at school, health care services are being provided, there are roads and there is economic development as a result of what we have managed to do.


"Military action alone will be insufficient to bring Afghanistan to a point where we can justifiably say we have dealt with the terrorist threat. It demands action by the Afghan people themselves, and that means training their own armed forces and police."