David Cameron said on Monday he had tasked Britain’s defence chiefs to see how they could do more to counter terrorism.

That, he added, “could include more spy planes, drones and special forces. In the last five years, I have seen just how vital these assets are in keeping us safe.”



He may have seen, we have not.

Operations involving Britain’s special forces are shrouded in official secrecy. The rules of engagement covering the RAF’s use of drones are far from clear, something former senior intelligence officials themselves say they are worried about.



Greater roles for the SAS and drones reflect closer links between the armed forces and intelligence agencies - something that will allow ministers to widen the scope of what can be included in the “defence budget” (see below).



“We never comment on what our special forces do and it is very important we maintain that position”, Cameron said last month. That position cannot be allowed to continue, even though it is often more honoured in the breach than the observance.



(A spectacular breach caused huge embarrassment last year to the DA Notice committee, where representatives of the media operate a system of voluntary self-censorship with senior Whitehall officials.



When the Sun newspaper, under the headline, “PM job for SAS legend” reported that “a hero SAS commander has been appointed by David Cameron to help the IS terror threat”, the committee pointed the finger at Downing Street. It added that was not the first time it had ignored official rules covering matters relating to national security. The minute referring to the Sun case was subsequently removed from the committee’s website, at the request of No 10.)



Admiral Lord West, former head of defence intelligence and security minister, recently called on the government to publish its rules on intelligence sharing with countries, notably the US, that could lead to drone strikes beyond traditional battlefields. The current situation leaves UK personnel on “hazy ground”, he said.



He continued: “What the US does is up to the US, but as far as our nation goes, I would not be happy if our country was carrying out killings in countries where we are not at war. Therefore I think it’s appropriate to disclose the guidance.”



Last year, former GCHQ director Sir David Omand welcomed the decision to deploy RAF Reaper to Iraq as a sign of a growing acceptance of [drone] technology as an essential modern military capability. Providing, Omand stressed, it was used “strictly in accordance with international law, in the same way as for other UK weapons systems.”



The legal charity and human rights group, Reprieve, said on Monday Cameron must explain UK’s role in the US secret drone war. “If the Prime Minister is going to call for more spending on drones, he needs to give us some answers on how they are being used”, said Kat Craig, Reprieve’s legal director.



She added: “Ministers have never once answered questions from parliament or the public on the role Britain plays.”



Andrew Smith of Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) told me: “There has always been a lack of accountability and a culture of secrecy when it comes to drones. ..Drone attacks can have devastating consequences and have killed thousands of civilians around the world. “

Fallon conceded when questioned on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday that some of the money spent by the intelligence agencies will in future be counted as “defence” expenditure.



“There is a new fund being set up on intelligence and defence which we will bid into. Where there is defence work associated with that, where we spend money, then that will fall to our budget”, he said.



He added, referring to the official Nato target of what percentage of national GDP should be spent on defence: “We meet the 2% anyway and we meet it easily.” These were Nato rules, not his rules, he insisted.

But Nato has relaxed its rules. The Commons defence committee must now question the MoD about how far it is engaging in creative accounting, and how Nato, for political reasons, has allowed it to.

