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An insult to The Few: Defence cuts could ground the Battle of Britain flight
By Ian Drury
Last updated at 8:31 AM on 15th January 2010
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight faces the axe as the Ministry of Defence attempts to close a £6billion hole in its finances.
Senior RAF sources have warned that the flight could be cut on 'cost grounds' as the MoD is forced to make drastic savings in the next defence review.
This year is the Battle of Britain's 70th anniversary and yesterday MPs and veterans' groups described the threat to the flight as a 'crying shame' and an insult to the fighter pilots - 'The Few' - who defended Britain against the German Luftwaffe.
An RAF Wing Commander said: 'Under the defence review now being conducted, the display teams could be cut. This is part of a cost benefit analysis going on in all MoD departments.
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'If the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight was to continue to operate as it currently does, it is feared it would need to attract private finance.'
The MoD has already made clear that the BBMF would not be allowed to be funded by private sponsorship or donations. Based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, it costs the RAF up to £3million a year to run.
An MoD spokesman said that no cuts to the BBMF would take place this year.
The £3million cost of the BBMF is a drop in the ocean compared to the MoD's £36.9billion budget - less than 0.1 per cent. It represents only one per cent of the £300million paid in bonuses to civil servants at the Whitehall ministry.
