Sambro is right, I'm sure, but that doesn't excuse Labour. If Brown can't be bothered making resources available to our troops because he doesn't have the money (and doesn't think we would stand for having taxes raised to cover it), then he has an alternative: pull them out.
As for the political sympathies: well, whether they're actual Tories or not, I never heard of a socialist admiral. But they're in the Lords for their expertise rather than their politics, and they're supposed to use that expertise to speak on issues like this. None of which means that they are necessarily correct, though.