Considering that HMG is borrowing on average something like £3 billion a week, just to keep up with current expenditure, it is a little hard to get too excited about the estimated cost of £4,025.6 million to maintain our operation in Afghanistan for the current financial year.

But that is the figure the Defence Committee has published, with the proviso that it may run to £4.4 billion, or even more. And that, of course, is not the total cost – merely the additional sum needed to support the operation, over and above that of maintaining the units involved at their normal state of readiness.

View full article here

How much more trying would you like him to be?

That notwithstanding, I'd rather he were tried.

Two ways to look at these figures....

1. How 'safe' could our borders be if we had spent £18bn stopping terrorists/undesireables getting into the UK in the first place......
2. The 'live fire practise' our soldiers are getting will probably give them the edge in the coming 3rd world war.....

Stop whinging, Richard, it's only money FFS....Oops! it's ours innit wot we don't have anyway.
Like Kellyseye I cannot but feel that it were better spent elsewhere but don't blame Dave, he's only carrying on where the last shower left off.
If I had run & raised my family following the fiscal logic of gumment since 1945 they would have run away from home or commited suicide. Come to think of it................

The only things Dave is trying is good peoples patience! that sum is bound to be wrong, dont forget all the wages are paid anyway, exercises will use fuel and ammo so a good deal of that cost is the baseline anyway, it does not make it better though.

Ooh! Look - a Tory MP with bottle: He speaks well. Not quite sure about his view of the Kosovan affair, but credit to him for his speech:

http://www.ted.com/talks/rory_stewart_t ... istan.html

Who will listen?