The defence secretary, Liam Fox, wants to speed up the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan, saying that Britian is not a "global policeman".
His comments came as he joined the foreign secretary, William Hague, and the international development secretary, Andrew Mitchell, on a trip to Afghanistan to meet political and military leaders in the capital, Kabul.
While Hague indicated that the new coalition government was not planning a strategic break with existing UK policy on Afghanistan, Fox said expectations of Britain's role in the country needed to change. He also risked angering the president, Hamid Karzai, by describing Afghanistan as a "broken 13th-century country".
In an interview with the Times, published ahead of their arrival today, Fox said the goals of the mission in Afghanistan were primarily military rather than humanitarian.
"We have to reset expectations and timelines," he told the paper. "National security is the focus now. We are not a global policeman.
"We are not in Afghanistan for the sake of the education policy in a broken 13th-century country. We are there so the people of Britain and our global interests are not threatened."
Fox said he would like the forces to return to the UK as soon as possible, and ruled out any transfer of British troops from Helmand province to neighbouring Kandahar.
His comments were a contrast to those of Mitchell, who told journalists on the flight to Kabul that development was "absolutely crucial".
"We need to ensure that we help the Afghan people to build a functioning state," he said.
"That's about providing basic education and healthcare facilities, but it's also about ensuring there are opportunities for promoting livelihoods so that people have jobs.
"If we are going to prioritise making sure there is a functioning state in Afghanistan, then development, the work we are doing in that respect, is absolutely crucial."
Aides insisted there were no differences between the three ministers.
Hague told reporters on the flight that "the question is how to support the efforts of the Afghan government and our Nato partners, not whether to support them".
"We are taking stock as a new government, we want to see how things are working, we want to hear the military advice, we want to talk to the Afghan government themselves, we want to discuss the detail with the United States."
The visit was the first to Afghanistan by members of the new government and is intended to reflect the high priority being given to the conflict.
It came as the death of another British serviceman was confirmed yesterday, the 286th in the campaign and the first fatality since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition took office.
On arrival the ministers, all Conservatives, met General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander of Nato operations in Afghanistan, and other military leaders.
Britain has about 10,000 troops in Afghanistan – part of a US-dominated force that is expected to grow to around 140,000 at its height in a few weeks. Washington is sending more troops in a bid to seize insurgent-held areas before a planned withdrawal starting in July 2011.
English footballer David Beckham is to visit Helmand Province, Afghanistan, to speak with British service personnel
English footballer David Beckham today arrived in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, the location of some of the most fierce fighting in the ongoing battle against the Taliban insurgency and the location of approximately 8,000 British soldiers and Royal Marines on a "morale boosting" mission. It is expected that he will spend the weekend in the country, visiting both  and the Helmand provincial capital of Lashkar Gah. 

Thirty-five year old Beckham, former captain of the , left on Friday, telling reported that he had "nothing but admiration" for the personnel serving in Afghanistan and that he had "wanted to visit Afghanistan for a long time and I hope that in some small way it helps remind everyone at home what an amazing job they are doing out here in very difficult conditions. I feel very humble." 

The footballer will hold a question and answer session with British troops. He said that the hoped "to do something useful" in Afghanistan, having missed out on the upcoming World Cup due to injury. Beckham is also due to meet groups of Afghan children as well as other soldiers serving in Helmand, including Canadian, Dutch and Estonian forces.  
William Hague with Hillary Clinton at a meeting last week where the two politicians declared their unity in their approach to Afghanistan 
Three British cabinet ministers, including Foreign Secretary William Hague, Defence Secretary  and International Development Secretary  also arrived in Afghanistan today on a separate, diplomatic, mission. They met with American General Stanley McChrystal, the NATO commander in the country and will meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai later today in the first official visit from the United Kingdom to Afghanistan since the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition was formed after the UK general election two weeks ago.

Hague, who discussed Afghanistan with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week, described the operation in the country as "our most urgent priority" while Fox emphasised that he wished to see a speeding up of the process leading to the withdrawal of British troops, saying "national security is the focus now. We the United Kingdom are not a global policeman." 
     
Beckham's visit comes as the deployment in southern Afghanistan is being restructured, with the southern command being split up into two commands, one under the command of an American two-star general and the other commanded by a British major-general. As Beckham was flying out, news broke that a Royal Marine had been killed in an explosion in Helmand.