But how does he expect the Navy to pay the costs of operating the ships if he is going to allow defence spending to fall below 2 per cent of GDP? Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, has indicated that finding a replacement maritime patrol aircraft to fill the gap created by the scrapping of the Nimrod programme is one of his top priorities. But how can he hope to pay for such an expensive piece of kit if the MoD’s budget falls any further?