Sir Richard Dannatt was on the panel of Question Time on Thursday and a question did come up about him being in the payroll of the Conservative Party whilst serving in the army. His defence was that he had acted completely honourably and only given advice once he had left the army. Paddy Ashdown had a very good night. He was the expert on most matters during the programme and in particular he had the ideas for Afghanistan.
There may be some defence for Sir Richard. There is no defence for the Conservative Party who put him in an uncomfortable position, to say the least. You can't serve the Government and the opposition at the same time. There is a nasty whiff of treachery in the air when an advisor to the Government is proclaimed as an advisor to the opposition.
I was a little disappointed that there was no mention of the comments from the Conservative Chris Grayling who at the time of the announcement misheard a question about General Dannatt. Thinking that the Government had a new advisor, he said that he hoped it was not a political gimmick. It was all about PR. It is a good thing to get the best advice but I do agree with Chris Grayling. It was a gimmick to announce an army advisor while he was still a serving officer.
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