A meeting of the National Security Council today chaired by the prime minister agreed that more work needs to be done, according to the person familiar with the discussions, who declined to be named because it was a private meeting.
The panel, which included Defense Secretary
Liam Fox, Chancellor of the Exchequer
George Osborne and the incoming armed-forces chief, General
David Richards, agreed in principle that the U.K. will make operations in Afghanistan its priority, the person said. The army is the lead force in the country, rather than the air force and navy.
Cameron also made it clear that the review should be genuinely strategic, rather than just about spending, and that greater efficiencies in defense need to be found, the person said.
The defense ministry won’t be able to afford between a third and half of the equipment it plans to buy over the next decade, with a 38 billion-pound ($60 billion) shortfall in its budget