More money down the drain

The Ministry of Defence's 20 biggest weapons projects are £2.6 billion over budget and a total of 36 years behind schedule, reports The Telegraph.

MPs also accuse ministers of massaging the figures after claiming they had cut the costs of the 20 projects by £781 million following a review of the department's spending plans.

The report by the Commons defence select committee says that £448m of these "cuts" did not actually result in any saving for the taxpayer, because the money was simply transferred to other parts of the defence budget.