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Top military officer Sir Jock Stirrup under pressure to leave post before defence review gets under way

The country's beleaguered top military officer, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, should leave his post quickly and not wait for the conclusion of the forthcoming strategic defence review, government officials have told the Guardian.

The officials' view reflects a widespread feeling in military circles that it would make more sense to appoint a new chief of defence staff before the review gets under way rather than hold on to someone who will not be responsible for implementing its decisions.

Liam Fox, the defence secretary, said today that Stirrup, who has presided over one of the armed forces' most controversial periods, would go, along with Sir Bill Jeffrey, the most senior civil servant at the Ministry of Defence, at the end of the defence review in the autumn.

Stirrup has been under pressure over the failure to plan properly for the Afghanistan campaign and for not standing up for the military in meetings with ministers, the Treasury, and No 10. He is blamed, in particular, for the failure to face up to the shortages of helicopters and the inadequacy of armoured vehicles for troops in Helmand with sufficient urgency.

The Guardian disclosed recently that Stirrup had also blocked criticism of the way the aftermath of the Iraq invasion was handled in a report for the Chilcot inquiry drawn up by a senior army officer, Lt Gen Chris Brown.

Stirrup, who earns £245,000 a year, was due to have retired two years ago but Gordon Brown extended his term because of criticism of the government by his assumed successor, Gen Sir Richard Dannatt, then head of the army. Brown asked Stirrup to stay on until next April.

Lt Col Stuart Tootal, former commander of a Parachute Regiment battalion in Helmand, told the BBC yesterday that Stirrup bore a share of the blame for the "chronic mismanagement" of the armed forces. He was forcefully advised by commanders on the ground in Helmand of the "absolute requirement" for more troops and helicopters, but was "very slow" to recognise the need to act, Tootal said.

"It makes absolute sense to get a new team in as quickly as possible. There is a well-tried military maxim that 'he who plans must also execute'. If he stays through the strategic defence review, the new CDS has to inherit what someone else has designed and there is a real risk that it might not be what the new chief wants to do."

That view is echoed widely within the MoD. However, some officials say it would be better to keep Stirrup at the post for now rather than appoint someone with more to gain â€" or lose â€" from the defence review. Stirrup is expected to be replaced by one of two army generals â€" Sir David Richards, head of the army and former head of Nato forces in Afghanistan, who is favourite to succeed, or Sir Nick Houghton, vice chief of the defence staff.

Fox said there had been an "amicable" discussion about "what was best for the department" and it would be wrong to suggest the two men had been fired. "This is all about timing", he said. He told BBC 1's Politics Show: "I really don't think, whatever mistakes were made in Afghanistan or anywhere else, that the blame should land anywhere else but firmly on the desks of politicians."

He added: "They were the ones responsible. They were the ones ultimately who took the decisions and I rather think it's a bit cowardly for politicians to be blaming people who work for them rather than taking the decisions themselves."

Fox did not rule out cutting troop numbers as part of this autumn's review. He said: "It may be the case that there are some functions we need less of and some we need more of, so it's very unlikely that any of the services will look exactly the same after the review.

"If you have a review, you don't simply say: 'I am going to rule X, Y or Z out in advance'. The exception to that has been the nuclear deterrent because we believe the threat is so great that we can't drop the deterrent."

He continued: "I am not saying that I have got any pre-conceived idea about the size and shape of the forces … We can't surely be saying that we keep the shape and size of our armed forces exactly the same for ever. We have to change in the light of the threats the country faces. What we need in the defence review is a step change. We need to say goodbye to the cold war."

Fox said the £180m annual cost of private education for forces children would be included in the review, as would the money spent on 30 military bands â€" though he said he personally regarded military bands as an important part of Britain's traditions â€" and the £3m cost of the Red Arrows display team.

But he stressed that he wanted any assessment of the Red Arrows to take into account the contribution they make in boosting the UK's profile in terms of training and defence exports.

He confirmed agreement had been reached at the MoD for all staff â€" including generals â€" to stop using first-class transport at the taxpayer's expense.

Next in line

General Sir David Richards

Head of the army and favourite to be the next chief of defence staff, Richards came to prominence during the Sierra Leone civil war in 2000, when he was appointed commander of an operation to rescue British and other foreign nationals from the west African country. The operation was cited as a triumph of Tony Blair's policy of intervention. In 2006, he became head of Nato forces in Afghanistan and was among the first to highlight the shortage of helicopters there. He says that Afghanistan and its people "have entered my bloodstream".

General Sir Nick Houghton

Vice-chief of the defence staff, Houghton was the senior British military officer in Iraq in 2005 and subsequently became chief of joint military operations. He has been closely involved in preparing for the defence review. He told the Chilcot inquiry this year: "We did not have the means to deliver on the objectives [in Afghanistan]." He also said the number of British forces deployed in Afghanistan was inadequate and strongly defended the withdrawal of British forces from central Basra in 2007 to their airport base, saying they had become the focus of violence.