DES Browne has admitted he carries out his duties as Secretary of State for Scotland in his spare time as he attempts to fight claims he is a "part-time" Defence Secretary.
His dual mandate at the Ministry of Defence and the Scotland Office has sparked anger from former military chiefs and opposition MPs, who say he needs to devote his entire time to defence matters.
But Mr Browne yesterday insisted the armed forces should not feel insulted by his juggling act, as he spent the same amount of time on defence as he did before he was landed with the Scotland Office portfolio in June.
His admission came after the Tory leader, David Cameron, called on Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, to appoint a full-time defence secretary on the back of a row sparked by five former military chiefs.
Although Mr Browne was in Glasgow yesterday attending a conference on regenerating the city, he made clear that defence took up most of his diary.
"I would put my record on commitment and delivery up against anyone's," he said.
"The amount of time that [the job of Scottish Secretary] takes comes out of what was my private life, my family's life and my constituents' time."
Mr Browne added: "I devote as much time to being Secretary of State for Defence as I did in the time that I was not Secretary of State for Scotland.
"I have been with more regularity into the operational theatres than any secretary of defence ever has been, and when I go out and talk to troops they don't raise these abstract issues about what other title you may have. They look to see what I do.
"And if you have some criticism about a part of the job I should have been doing and I'm not doing, I will answer it."
The Conservatives were quick to blame the dual mandate on the Prime Minister.
Mr Browne was already Defence Secretary when the Prime Minister added the Scotland portfolio to his workload nearly six months ago.
In a letter to Mr Brown, Mr Cameron said: "At a time when our forces are engaged in two highly dangerous missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the need for the Defence Secretary to be able to concentrate full-time on his role is surely a matter of plain commonsense.
"People do not understand why you have chosen to combine the job of Defence Secretary with Scottish secretary at such a crucial time."
Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, said Mr Browne was "having to spend time fighting the SNP and the Taleban", calling this "an insult to the men and women of our armed forces".
While most voices yesterday argued that the defence role should be full-time, Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrats' spokesman on Scotland, called for a separate secretary for the devolved regions and nations that could concentrate on constitutional affairs.
Communication between the Scotland Office and the SNP administration was difficult, he said, and a separate department could take some of the heat out of the debate. "You would be better able to save the Union by making the governments in Edinburgh and London communicate better," he added.
Former military chiefs broke rank during a Lords debate on Thursday to say the dual role showed "contempt" for the armed forces. The row was ratcheted up on Friday, when they continued to speak out.
Much of the criticism was aimed at Mr Brown. General Lord Guthrie complained he had been "unsympathetic" towards the military as chancellor.
Lord Boyce, the former chief of defence staff, said making Mr Browne defence and Scottish secretary had been an "insult".
The Prime Minister faced questions about the criticism from former defence chiefs, triggered in a House of Lords' debate on Thursday, during his trip to a Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Uganda.
"I have got nothing but praise for our armed forces," he said from Kampala.
"Every year of this government we have increased expenditure on defence."
But Sir Mike Jackson, a former head of defence staff, signalled that government spending on defence had not been as generous as in other departments.
UK FIFTH IN DEFENCE LEAGUE
THE UK is fifth in the world for defence expenditure, spending £25 billion. The United States is the highest spending nation, followed by China, India and Russia, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Within the NATO alliance, the top spending countries relative to GDP within NATO were the US, followed by Turkey, Germany, Greece, France, Bulgaria and then the UK, which spent 2.3 per cent of its budget on defence, said the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
