'Raiding the accounts'published at 17.13
BBC News Channel
Sir Gerald Howarth, former defence minister, has commented on news that the government is going to start counting spending on some peace-keeping missions as part of the defence budget. UKIP has already suggested it's just "creative accounting" aimed at meeting Nato's 2% of GDP target for defence spending by the back door.
Sir Gerald said that while he wants that target to be met, this isn't a "fair" way of doing it.
Quote MessageIt looks as though what the government is doing is raiding a whole load of accounts... in order to satisfy a lot of people like me... I don't think that's going to allay the fears that are being expressed in the United Kingdom... and also by our American partners [about defence cuts]."
Sir Gerald said he hoped George Osborne would meet the 2% target properly and "if that has to come out of the overseas aid budget, I think a lot of people in the United Kingdom will be more than content about that".