Memento

We do face very real threats to our security and national interest. But the trouble is none of them are really the sort that can be countered by HMS Victorious. Trust me, I'd love to have nuked the 7/7 bombers, but that wasn't an option. I personally wouldn't mind nuking their friends in the Taliban either. But again, I don't think that's a viable alternative at present. I'd dearly love to tell president Assad he's got a week to comply with the UN ceasefire resolution in Syria or he's getting a 100 kiloton warhead where the sun don't shine. But I don't think he'd actually believe us.

Diplomatic deafness is often the best way out of such situations.

But the Cabinet Office will stop short of revealing how much will be saved or how many jobs will be lost, in part because they have not been able to calculate the sometimes huge costs of redundancy payments.

The wrecked marina in Georgetown after Hurricane Ivan in 2004 (AP Photo/Walter Astrada)