Armed forces need sweeteners – but expect fudge

The Ministry of Defence must save £2bn over the next two years. But rather than cutting back on spending, could the MoD make better use of its resources? Or does it simply need more money?

Due to the "unhappy coincidence" of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and plans for several big spending programmes, the Ministry of Defence has money problems, says John Waples in The Sunday Times. It must save £2bn over the next two years.

With regular stories appearing about soldiers entering battle with insufficient equipment, spending less on current campaigns is "unthinkable". The alternative, cancelling future projects, is politically sensitive due to the job losses that would entail and would probably trigger penalty payments designed to prevent such a move. "The solution will be to reach for the fudge", which will either involve delaying the delivery of expensive bits of kit or using "sleight of hand" to keep spending off the books for a couple of years.

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