Sir Jock Stirrup to step down early

Britain's top military officer is to step down within months, before his term was due to end, it emerged today.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, whose post as chief of the defence staff was to continue until April 2011, will leave in the autumn after the new government's strategic defence review, Defence Secretary Liam Fox said.

The Ministry of Defence's top civil servant, Permanent Under Secretary (PUS) Sir Bill Jeffrey, will also depart at the same time. They were both asked to extend their terms by the previous Labour government.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Dr Fox said: "Both the chief of defence staff and PUS are here longer than they needed to be. They were asked to stay on and willing to do so, not least to see the transition into the new government. And I think that the transition's been extremely smooth, and I've been discussing with them, as with other senior staff, how we transition to the new structures and what might be the appropriate times to do it.

"And I'm going to do it at a time that suits the Government to do it, but also at a time which treats our long-serving personnel with some respect. We've talked about the best time to be replacing our senior staff, probably at the end of the Strategic Defence Review in the autumn."

The news comes during an upsurge in violence in Afghanistan, with more than 30 Nato servicemen, including six British troops, killed since the start of the month. Nearly 300 British servicemen and women have now died in the country since 2001.