Captain Darling has pulled a rabbit out of the hat and found some new money. Everything is going to be okay !!!
The 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review (2007 CSR) continues the longest period of sustained real increases in Ministry of Defence (MoD) expenditure in almost three decades by providing for 1.5 per cent average annual real growth over the three years to 2010-11. This increase in funding, together with value for money reforms generating annual net cash-releasing savings of £2.7 billion by 2010-11, enables the MoD to:
• enhance conventional capability across the Armed Forces including two
new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy, protected vehicles for the Army, and further Air Transport capability for the RAF;
• fund the renewal of Britain’s nuclear deterrent while ensuring that this
does not come at the expense of the conventional capability our Armed Forces need; and
• invest £550 million in new and refurbished accommodation for
servicemen and women and their families, drawing on anticipated receipts from the sale of Chelsea barracks.
In addition to the planned expenditure accounted for in this three-year settlement, the Government will continue to meet the additional costs of military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere from the Reserves.