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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Ministers to start defence review | Ministers to start defence review |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| A "root and branch" review of Britain's defence policy is to be announced later by the government. | A "root and branch" review of Britain's defence policy is to be announced later by the government. |
| Ministers are expected to promise an interim "Green Paper" setting out their thinking around the turn of the year. | Ministers are expected to promise an interim "Green Paper" setting out their thinking around the turn of the year. |
| This will come before a more substantive Strategic Defence Review after the next general election when key decisions will be made. | This will come before a more substantive Strategic Defence Review after the next general election when key decisions will be made. |
| Government sources said the initial review would not consider making cuts to the £36bn defence budget. | Government sources said the initial review would not consider making cuts to the £36bn defence budget. |
| Instead, the review will examine defence policy as a whole - its purpose, the way it works, what the services expects, its technological priorities. | Instead, the review will examine defence policy as a whole - its purpose, the way it works, what the services expects, its technological priorities. |
| This means that the government appears to be putting off any substantive spending decisions about defence until after the election. | This means that the government appears to be putting off any substantive spending decisions about defence until after the election. |
| Trident renewal | |
| An influential think tank report published last month suggested the UK should consider slashing defence spending by up to £24bn and revisit plans to renew its Trident nuclear weapons system. | |
| The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) report said Britain cannot afford much of the defence equipment it plans to buy and urged the country to consider possible alternatives to Trident or extending life of system. | |
| Its authors include former defence secretary Lord Robertson and the ex-Lib Dem leader, Lord Ashdown. | |
| The government said it remained committed to renewing Trident. | |
| It comes after news of a £1bn cost overrun on two new aircraft carriers. | |
| The original budget for the two carriers for the Royal Navy was £3.9bn but the BBC has seen a memorandum revealing the programme will come under "severe pressure" because of the cost escalation. |