Dodgy tanks, outdated warships: how can we trust UK defence chiefs to spend our billions wisely? | Richard Norton-Taylor

The aircraft carriers cost more than 6bn , well above the original estimate of under 4bn .

Maintaining and repairing the ships, hit by serious mechanical problems, has already cost nearly 1bn .

The carriers were considered to be so vulnerable to attack that the navy last year advised they should not be deployed to the Red Sea .

Recent history tells us it is not so much the amount of money devoted to the armed forces, as how it is spent: the waste must end. - Richard Norton-Taylor writes for the Guardian on defence and security and is a contributor to a forthcoming alternative defence review.