‘Huge’ cost of aircraft carriers meant ‘less scope’ for funding health and education

‘Huge’ cost of aircraft carriers meant ‘less scope’ for funding health and education

Tony Blair’s treasury secretary Alistair Darling told the prime minister that buying aircraft carriers was a “political” rather than a military choice and would mean less funding for social services.Declassified files from 1998, Blair’s first full year in government, contain deliberations among officials and ministers on Labour’s manifesto commitment to replace Britain’s three aircraft carriers with the two new ones the UK currently possesses.Da…