:00:21. > :00:24.Good afternoon. The Defence Secretary, Phillip
:00:24. > :00:26.Hammond, has warned that further significant cuts to the armed
:00:26. > :00:28.forces would "very seriously" undermine military capability. He
:00:28. > :00:31.suggested that savings, due to be announced in the Chancellor's
:00:31. > :00:41.forthcoming spending review, should instead come from the welfare
:00:41. > :00:43.
:00:43. > :00:53.budget. Spw Our Defence Correspondent Jonathan Beale
:00:53. > :01:23.
:01:23. > :01:28.reports. Philip Hammond says he is not willing to take on more cuts.
:01:28. > :01:32.We cannot make significant cuts without eroding military capability.
:01:32. > :01:37.We are very taught. We have challenging targets ahead of us to
:01:37. > :01:46.deliver the outcome of the last Spending Review. I am clear we will
:01:46. > :01:51.be unable to deliver further $:/STARTFEED. Philip Hammond
:01:51. > :01:58.resided over the biggest defence cuts since the end of the Cold War.
:01:58. > :02:01.A process that has left thousands of soldiers, Saylors and airmen
:02:02. > :02:05.redundant, but he believes that axing more military troops and
:02:05. > :02:12.hardware is a mistake for the country. The negotiations within
:02:12. > :02:17.the Cabinet about the next round of cuts have begun.
:02:17. > :02:22.Philip Hammond believes that they should look at saving ins in the
:02:22. > :02:25.welfare budget. That's put him at loggerheads with
:02:25. > :02:30.those who believe that cuts in welfare have gone far enough. It
:02:30. > :02:37.makes life difficult for the Chancellor.
:02:37. > :02:42.More of this now with our Political Correspondent Louise Stuart.
:02:43. > :02:46.How has this gone down? Well, the gloves came off in the run-up to
:02:46. > :02:50.the Eastleigh by-election, if anyone thought that they could put
:02:50. > :02:54.that behind them, they is not going to help. Philip Hammond said that
:02:54. > :02:59.things were taught. That is at the Ministry of Defence.
:02:59. > :03:05.He says he cannot make further cuts unless it is to reduce the UK's
:03:05. > :03:11.military capability. So he has gone further, saying perhaps we should
:03:11. > :03:14.look to other budgets and singled out the welfare budget for cuts
:03:15. > :03:19.instead. That has not gob down well with the Liberal Democrats it is a
:03:19. > :03:24.warning shot from Philip Hammond, saying he will fight to protect his
:03:24. > :03:28.budget. I have spoken to some who say that theres have been enough
:03:28. > :03:34.cuts, and the Liberal Democrats saying that they will not tolerate
:03:34. > :03:37.anymore. President Obama has signed an order
:03:37. > :03:40.which will trigger $85 billion of cuts in US government spending. It
:03:40. > :03:43.came after talks between the White House and Republicans to agree less
:03:43. > :03:45.severe reductions in spending ended without a deal. The White House
:03:46. > :03:55.warned that the cuts would have a "deeply destructive" impact. Paul
:03:55. > :03:59.Adams reports. Congress and the White House have had a year-and-a-
:03:59. > :04:05.half to reach a bargain on the deficit reduction, but with the
:04:05. > :04:10.President calling for a mixture of cuts and closing tax luep holes for
:04:10. > :04:14.the rich, the Omans were not good for a set of last-minute talks in
:04:14. > :04:17.the White House. At a time when the businesses have
:04:17. > :04:23.fuenally begun to get traction, hiring new workers, bringing jobs
:04:23. > :04:28.back to America, we should not be making a series of dumb arbitrary
:04:28. > :04:31.cuts to what businesses depend on and workers, like education,
:04:31. > :04:35.research and infrastructure. The White House says that the
:04:36. > :04:40.consequences of the arbitrary cuts will be severe. The Republicans
:04:40. > :04:46.accuse him of scare tactics. The markets do not, for the time being,
:04:46. > :04:50.seem unduly concerned, but at the Pentagon, the new Defence Secretary,
:04:50. > :04:54.Chuck Hagel, on his third day in the job, warned that the impact on
:04:54. > :04:58.his department would be swift and severe.
:04:58. > :05:03.There could be cutbacks and this will have a major impact on
:05:03. > :05:05.training and readiness. The army will curtail training for all units,
:05:05. > :05:11.other than those deploying to Afghanistan.
:05:11. > :05:15.If there is no solution found, the government employees, including
:05:15. > :05:20.around 700,000 civilians who work for the Department of Defence will
:05:20. > :05:24.soon find themselves forced to take unpaid leave. No-one thoses what
:05:24. > :05:28.this could mean in practise but as there is a demonstration in
:05:28. > :05:32.Washington, it is fairly unambiguous. A number of British
:05:32. > :05:35.tourists have been injured in a coach crash in Kenya. Witnesses
:05:35. > :05:37.said the coach rolled down an embankment after skidding on a dual
:05:37. > :05:40.carriageway approaching Mombasa Airport this morning. The foreign
:05:40. > :05:44.office has said consulate staff are assisting Britons involved. Their
:05:44. > :05:47.injuries are not thought to be life-threatening. The Queen has
:05:47. > :05:49.been forced to cancel a planned visit to Wales today because of
:05:49. > :05:59.illness. Buckingham Palace says she's been suffering from symptoms
:05:59. > :06:02.
:06:02. > :06:08.of gastroenteritis and will instead spend the weekend at Windsor Castle.
:06:08. > :06:12.Let's join Richard Lister. Any more word about her? Well,
:06:12. > :06:15.Buckingham Palace have been saying nothing more beyond the statement
:06:15. > :06:19.that they put out yesterday. The fact she is here, rather than in
:06:19. > :06:25.hospital, suggests she is not seriously ill, and the expectation
:06:25. > :06:30.is she will be restored to good health in the next day or so, but
:06:30. > :06:39.for somebody PROBLEM WITH SOUND, She has
:06:39. > :06:43.cancelled two visits in five months. So she is in robust health but the
:06:43. > :06:48.Buckingham Palace will have to make an assessment whether or not she is
:06:48. > :06:52.well enough on Wednesday to go out for a two-day visit. So we need