Assorted News

The reduction in troops in Afghanistan, the war funding, and the budget: Liam Fox is understood to be fighting to avoid new cuts to the Armed Forces by gaining permission to redirect the savings from the reduced force in Afghanistan into the core budget.
Last year, the mission cost an estimated £4.5 billion, up from £1.5 billion in 2007/08. A decade of operations in Afghanistan has cost 374 British lives and more than £14 billion.
The cost of military operations is funded from the Treasury Reserve, a central fund worth around £4 billion a year. As the Afghan operation winds down, the Treasury expects to reduce its payments to the MoD sharply.
But with the MoD still facing a huge financial shortfall, Whitehall officials are considering plans that would allow Dr Fox to make greater use of Reserve funds even as his immediate Afghan costs fall.
A Whitehall source said there was negotiation between the MoD and the Treasury about who meets the long-term costs of vehicles and equipment bought for Afghanistan.