A new opinion poll in the UK has highlighted the political challenge Gordon Brown would face if he agrees to send more troops to Afghanistan next year, with 68 per cent of Britons saying the UK should withdraw within 12 months.

As Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, arrived in London yesterday on a mission to persuade the British prime minister to send military reinforcements to his country, the BBC poll showed that only 24 per cent of people believe UK troops should stay, while 8 per cent said they had no view on the matter.