Tory leader says the government should act to reduce the number of lives lost in war against Taliban

David Cameron today told Gordon Brown he had to provide more leadership to reduce the numbers of British lives lost in Afghanistan.

In the last prime minister’s question time before the summer recess, the Conservative leader said the government should “show greater urgency and make more visible progress” in Afghanistan and said forces needed a more tightly defined mission.

This month 15 British soldiers have died in Afghanistan, taking the death toll to 184, more than that of the Iraq war.

Cameron also accused the government of failing to provide enough helicopters. He told Brown: “The number of helicopters we have in Afghanistan is simply insufficient.” Britain had fewer than 30 in Helmand while the Americans, with similar numbers of troops, had 100.

But as he and Cameron traded quotes by military figures on the issue, Brown said: “We have done everything we can to increase the numbers of helicopters and there will be more helicopters on the ground … While the loss of life is tragic and sad, it is not to do with helicopters.” The budget for helicopters was £6bn over the next 10 years.

The prime minister added: “The purpose of our mission is very clear: to prevent terrorism coming to the streets of Britain.”

Brown said that Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, had responded favourably to his request that the Kabul government provide more police and soldiers in Helmand. “President Karzai has promised that he will provide additional resources to do that.” After October, Britain will provide more training to the Afghan security services, he said.

The head of the British army said earlier today that more coalition troops were needed in Helmand to provide the security for its people to go back to their ordinary lives.

General Sir Richard Dannatt said that “more boots on the ground” were key to success in Helmand, though he stressed that it did not matter whether they belonged to British, American or Afghan troops.

At PMQs, Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, accused Brown of promising lots but doing nothing on bankers’ bonuses, the recession and cleaning up parliament. It was just “business as usual”, Clegg said.

Brown said the opposition parties should go away over the summer and reflect on why they had no policies to deal with the big issues facing Britain.