A soldier who quit the army after agreeing that 'men cannot be women' has hit back at Ben Wallace after the defence secretary said it was 'rubbish' to say he was forced out for his views. 

Former reservist Kelvin Wright, 54, uploaded a quote on Facebook from Helen Joyce, a gender-critical journalist, reading: 'If women cannot stand in a public place and say ''men cannot be women,'' then we do not have women's rights at all.' 

According to The Telegraph, Dr Wright then resigned from the Army after a 'hellish' investigation into the post, which looked at whether Dr Wright had fallen foul of the Army's 'values and standards'. 

He said: 'This is about freedom of speech and protection of women - there is nothing that ever says I have been anti-trans or anti-LGBT at all.'  

But Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said it was 'rubbish and untrue' to say Dr Wright had been pushed out, claiming the investigation was unrelated to the former reservist's views. 

Mr Wallace tweeted: 'His views are NOT contrary to Army policy.

'Col Wright's administrative investigation stemmed from Army social media policy and had nothing to do with his views. He was encouraged to stay.' 

Dr Wright claimed the investigation was an 'attack' on his 'honour', adding he could no longer stay in an Army which treated its officers with such 'disrespect'. 

The investigation also looked at whether the former reservist had broken a Ministry of Defence policy on the 'recruitment and management of transgender personnel in the Armed Forces'. 

Emails that were sent to Dr Wright and seen by the Daily Telegraph reveal the investigating officer in his case referred specifically to the transgender policy. 

Dr Wright said: 'At no point was the Army's social media policy mentioned to me. But having viewed that policy I cannot see how I could be deemed to have breached it.' 

He added that after serving his country for 14 years, he felt he had 'no choice but to resign' after being placed under investigation for 'a Facebook post defending women's rights'.