Libya campaign could cost Britain 'hundreds of millions'

Chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander puts potential cost well above chancellor George Osborne's original estimate
  • The Guardian,
RAF Typhoon pilot prepares for mission over Libya
An RAF Typhoon pilot prepares for a mission over Libya at the Gioia del Colle airbase in southern Italy. Photograph: MoD/EPA

The cost of Britain's military operations in Libya could run "into the hundreds of millions", Danny Alexander, chief secretary to the Treasury, said on Sunday.

"The campaign is costing tens of millions, potentially into the hundreds of millions as it goes on, but that money is coming from the reserve that we have set aside, precisely for contingencies such as this," he told Sky News on Sunday.

When the campaign started, the chancellor George Osborne said the cost would be "in the order of tens of millions of pounds, not hundreds of millions".

Since then, defence economists have warned that the spend could reach £1bn if the campaign stretches on into the autumn.

The shadow defence secretary, Jim Murphy, said: "It is worrying that Danny Alexander seems to be guessing about current costs, which are dramatically more than George Osborne originally predicted.

"We support the mission in Libya but the government need to be clearer on the costs."

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