Cameron's fighting talk on Libya mission costs

The Ministry of Defence will set out the most recent financial implications for taxpayers of the Nato-led mission in a written Commons statement.

When military action began in March, Chancellor George Osborne told MPs the bill would be in the tens, not the hundreds, of millions. Some experts now fear the total costs could rise to 1 billion.

At Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, David Cameron insisted Britain can maintain the current level of operations in Libya despite concerns raised by senior military figures.

He told MPs the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) had allowed for flexibility in the armed forces.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Simon Bryant, the RAF's second in command, has said operations in Afghanistan and Libya were together placing a "huge" demand on resources, but Mr Cameron told top brass yesterday: "You do the fighting and I'll do the talking."

But Labour leader Ed Miliband told him that was "very crass and high-handed".