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| Version 9 | Version 10 |
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| Spending Review: Ministers agree MoD budget cut | Spending Review: Ministers agree MoD budget cut |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Cutbacks in the UK's £37bn annual defence budget have been finalised ahead of the chancellor's Spending Review, the BBC understands. | Cutbacks in the UK's £37bn annual defence budget have been finalised ahead of the chancellor's Spending Review, the BBC understands. |
| The reduction is expected to be less than the 10% the Treasury had been seeking, possibly around 8%. | |
| The Army is expected to have to cut personnel, although the Navy will get two new aircraft carriers. | The Army is expected to have to cut personnel, although the Navy will get two new aircraft carriers. |
| But it is thought the ships will have fewer new aircraft and the overall size of the Navy's fleet will be reduced. | But it is thought the ships will have fewer new aircraft and the overall size of the Navy's fleet will be reduced. |
| Details of spending cuts are due to be published on Wednesday. | Details of spending cuts are due to be published on Wednesday. |
| It is believed that the Joint RAF/Fleet Air Arm Harrier force may face the axe, while some squadrons of RAF Tornado jets could be saved instead - although some air force bases will close. | It is believed that the Joint RAF/Fleet Air Arm Harrier force may face the axe, while some squadrons of RAF Tornado jets could be saved instead - although some air force bases will close. |
| The Army may have to cut up to 7,000 or so personnel over the next five years, while the MoD itself could face substantial cuts to its civilian staff. | The Army may have to cut up to 7,000 or so personnel over the next five years, while the MoD itself could face substantial cuts to its civilian staff. |
| Sources say £750m will be saved over four years on the Trident nuclear deterrent missile system but it is not yet clear how those savings will be made. | Sources say £750m will be saved over four years on the Trident nuclear deterrent missile system but it is not yet clear how those savings will be made. |
| BBC defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt says the MoD still has a £38bn black hole in its procurement budget - inherited from the previous government - which mean the cuts need to be deeper than the headline figure suggests. | BBC defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt says the MoD still has a £38bn black hole in its procurement budget - inherited from the previous government - which mean the cuts need to be deeper than the headline figure suggests. |
| Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Michael Clarke, of the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said Army numbers had to be cut. | Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Michael Clarke, of the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said Army numbers had to be cut. |
| But that would not happen before 2015, when a withdrawal from Afghanistan would be under way, he said. | But that would not happen before 2015, when a withdrawal from Afghanistan would be under way, he said. |
| Mr Clarke described the defence cuts as a "bell-weather" for Nato, which would be watching closely to see where the axe fell. | |
| On the same programme, former First Sea Lord Admiral Lord West said: "Politically, I can understand how the government finds it difficult to cut Army numbers when our soldiers are dying in Afghanistan." | On the same programme, former First Sea Lord Admiral Lord West said: "Politically, I can understand how the government finds it difficult to cut Army numbers when our soldiers are dying in Afghanistan." |
| He said that "strategically it would make sense" to cut numbers by 20,000. | He said that "strategically it would make sense" to cut numbers by 20,000. |
| 'Can live with' | 'Can live with' |
| There has been intense debate inside government about where the cuts should fall within the defence budget. | There has been intense debate inside government about where the cuts should fall within the defence budget. |
| Initial demands by the Treasury were for reductions of between 10% and 20%, with many options put before the National Security Council. | Initial demands by the Treasury were for reductions of between 10% and 20%, with many options put before the National Security Council. |
| Earlier this week it was believed at the MoD that a settlement was close at about 7%, but the Treasury came back demanding cuts of 10%. | Earlier this week it was believed at the MoD that a settlement was close at about 7%, but the Treasury came back demanding cuts of 10%. |
| Military chiefs said that would damage the front line in Afghanistan, something Mr Cameron had previously made clear he was not prepared to do. | Military chiefs said that would damage the front line in Afghanistan, something Mr Cameron had previously made clear he was not prepared to do. |
| Colonel Richard Kemp, a former British commander in Afghanistan, said: "We will probably now get a fairly vague announcement this week and then a number of quieter readjustments to it over the next few months." | Colonel Richard Kemp, a former British commander in Afghanistan, said: "We will probably now get a fairly vague announcement this week and then a number of quieter readjustments to it over the next few months." |
| He said there was a huge amount of "corrosive" uncertainty about the future of the armed forces which was "potentially a real morale problem". | He said there was a huge amount of "corrosive" uncertainty about the future of the armed forces which was "potentially a real morale problem". |
| Col Kemp also said he felt Britain could no longer afford the aircraft carriers which he claimed had been promised as a sop to the Navy. | Col Kemp also said he felt Britain could no longer afford the aircraft carriers which he claimed had been promised as a sop to the Navy. |
| The BBC understands that both planned aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, will be built - but the Royal Navy stands to lose a significant portion of its surface fleet, while the order for the joint strike fighters for the carriers will be scaled down substantially. | The BBC understands that both planned aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, will be built - but the Royal Navy stands to lose a significant portion of its surface fleet, while the order for the joint strike fighters for the carriers will be scaled down substantially. |
| The carriers are being constructed in sections in Scotland, Portsmouth and north Devon. | The carriers are being constructed in sections in Scotland, Portsmouth and north Devon. |
| Speaking on the Today programme, Lord West said he would be "delighted" if the two carriers were built. | Speaking on the Today programme, Lord West said he would be "delighted" if the two carriers were built. |
| "They provide four and a half acres of British sovereign territory with no over-flying rights, we don't have to put troops on the ground with all the risks of terrorism and so on, and we can influence the world and keep a stable globe, which is very important for our wealth in this country," he said. | "They provide four and a half acres of British sovereign territory with no over-flying rights, we don't have to put troops on the ground with all the risks of terrorism and so on, and we can influence the world and keep a stable globe, which is very important for our wealth in this country," he said. |
| But Scottish National Party MP Angus Robertson, who was two RAF bases in his Moray constituency, said any cuts would be bad news. | But Scottish National Party MP Angus Robertson, who was two RAF bases in his Moray constituency, said any cuts would be bad news. |
| "What we can read between the lines is, that the larger service in Scotland, which is the RAF - bigger than the Navy, bigger than the Army - is going to be hit disproportionately. | "What we can read between the lines is, that the larger service in Scotland, which is the RAF - bigger than the Navy, bigger than the Army - is going to be hit disproportionately. |
| "So, Scotland is going to come out of this SDSR [strategic defence and security review] badly," Mr Robertson added. |