Defence Review Result at End of October
Defence cuts decision to come early
Date: 03 August 2010
A decision on where the axe will fall on the armed forces has been brought forward, the defence secretary said yesterday.
Dr Liam Fox confirmed that an announcement following a major review of defence spending will be made in the last week of October. The decision was previously expected to be released at Christmas.
Dr Fox said all sectors were being considered but no decisions had yet been made.
He said: "We have some difficult decisions but the crux decision is what are the risks we are willing to take for Britain's national security. We will make most of the difficult decisions in September, I will then take the sum of that to the national security council and make my announcement in the last week of October." Dr Fox said a fixed budget had not yet been set by the Treasury and negotiations were "ongoing".
Last week, Chancellor George Osborne announced that the full £20 billion cost of renewing the UK's Trident nuclear deterrent must be paid for out of the defence budget.
Dr Fox said he could not confirm whether major defence projects such as the two new aircraft carriers currently on order would survive the review.