Labour accuse coalition over defence spending

Labour has accused the coalition of lacking overall strategic thinking after David Cameron announced plans for more than £1bn in defence spending.

The money, which will come from savings found elsewhere in the Ministry of Defence budget, will be spent on special forces and hi-tech intelligence gathering to counter the threat from terrorists.

The shadow defence secretary, Vernon Coaker, said the government was trying to make up for mistakes made in the 2010 Strategic Defence Review.