I was talking to a US DOD liaison officer a while back on the issue of ‘the special relationship’. I did suggest that from either side it could be viewed as being one sided ie the U.K. always begging, the U.S. always seeking to extract a high price. His view from the DOD seat was that the U.K. already paid its way, largely in kind through strategic access and basing and political support. We would do well to remember that in any discussions.