Conservative leader’s comments come as poll reveals backing for British involvement in war has grown

David Cameron today said it was a “scandal” that the British army did not have enough helicopters to transport troops around Afghanistan.

Speaking as a new poll suggested that the growing British casualty rate had not increased public hostility to the conflict, the Conservative leader said the government should deal with the helicopter problem “as a matter of urgency”.

Cameron will have the chance to challenge Gordon Brown on the issue when the prime minister makes a statement to the Commons, which will cover the latest deaths in Afghanistan, later today.

In a speech on international aid today, the Tory leader said the government should supply British troops with more equipment.

“Of course we must do that – it is a scandal in particular that they still lack enough helicopters to move around in Afghanistan,” he added.

“The government must deal with that issue as a matter of extreme urgency.”

Research carried out as news broke of the deaths of eight soldiers in 24 hours – taking the British death toll in Afghanistan to more than that in Iraq – revealed support for the war remained firm and backing for British involvement had grown.

The poll of 1,000 showed that people appear reluctant to turn against a conflict while soldiers are fighting and dying on the front line, and the increasingly high-profile nature of the war appears to have strengthened public backing.

Opposition to the war, at 47%, is just ahead of support, at 46%, according to the ICM poll for the Guardian and the BBC’s Newsnight.

Backing for Britain’s role in the conflict has grown since the last time an ICM poll was conducted on the subject in 2006.

It is up 15 points from 31%, while opposition has fallen over the same period by six points from 53%.

The poll also showed that 42% are in favour of the immediate withdrawal of British troops, and a further 14% want them home by the end of the year. These figures are almost identical to the results in 2006.

A further 36% want troops to stay as long as they are needed – again a similar proportion to 2006, when British casualties were lower.

The findings came as ministers drew up plans to devote more troops and resources to Afghanistan after dismissing repeated requests from defence chiefs for reinforcements.

The shift in approach follows the rising death toll, outspoken criticism from opposition politicians and the prospect of a long period of intense fighting against the Taliban.

Gordon Brown will today confirm that the number of British troops is increasing to 9,000 from a base of 8,300.

One favoured option, which has not been agreed, is for the number of troops to be kept at 9,000 after the next general election.

Today, Miliband told GMTV the government’s strategy in Afghanistan was clear.

“This is a mission that’s been developed with a very clear strategy: above all, to make us safer here because we know these areas of Afghanistan and its neighbour Pakistan are used to launch terrorism around the world,” he said. “So the mission for us is clear.”

Miliband admitted there had been a “terrible casualty toll” and paid tribute to those who were killed, but added that more helicopters alone were not the answer.

John Maples, the Tory deputy chairman, yesterday told the Guardian: “Increasingly, people are starting to ask whether this war is winnable and whether our military objectives are sensible given the number of troops and the amount of equipment we are prepared to commit.”

Lord Ashdown, the former Liberal Democrat leader who almost became the UN special representative in Afghanistan last year, was scathing about British and US conduct.

“The army were persuaded, for political reasons, to follow a Beau Geste strategy – putting our people out in forward forts largely because the politicians were persuaded by [Afghan president Hamid] Karzai that this was where his supporters and family lived,” he said.

“It led to a military error of major proportions. The army’s job in a war is to find and kill the enemy.”

After previously blocking requests by the chiefs of staff for 2,000 more troops to be deployed in southern Afghanistan, Brown has said in a letter to senior Commons committee chairmen: “We will of course continue to review our force levels based on the advice of commanders and discussions with our allies.”

The Treasury has previously blocked the defence chiefs’ request on the grounds of cost.

However, the chancellor, Alistair Darling, said over the weekend: “If [British troops] need equipment, whatever it is, to support them in the frontline then of course the government, through the Treasury, is ready to help.”

He told the BBC: “You can’t send troops into the frontline and not be prepared to see it through in terms of the … resources they need.”

Significantly, given the government’s past decisions to cap resources for Afghanistan, Darling added: “You’ve got to listen to what the chiefs of staff tell us.”

Commanders on the ground have made no secret of the fact that they want more helicopters and more British troops.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the army, was yesterday reported to have told a private dinner of MPs that too few troops and helicopters were available.

In an interview with the British Forces Broadcasting Service on Saturday, Brown paid tribute to the “sacrifice” of the 15 troops who have died since the start of the month in the bloodiest fighting Britain has seen in the Afghan campaign.

“I know that this has been a difficult summer – it is going to be a difficult summer,” he said.

The prime minister said he had been assured, in a lengthy briefing by commanders, that Operation Panther’s Claw to drive the Taliban from central Helmand province was making “considerable progress”.

Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, said troops were “attacking the Taliban in one of their heartland areas”.

“The reason they are standing and fighting is they know that what we are doing potentially hurts them seriously and strategically,” he said.