With Libya set to cost UK taxpayers £1 billion by September, why should Britain fight and fund the international community's wars?

By Tim Montgomerie

According to The Guardian the cost to Britain of operations in Libya will reach £1 billion by September.

The cost is already £300 million and is rising by £38 million each and every week.

The costs reflect the bombs used, the long distance RAF flights and the involvement of 1,000 service personnel.

Over the last six weeks Britain has been the biggest contributor to operations and is responsible for 25% of more than 6,000 sorties over Libya.

Getting international authority for the Libyan operation - through the United Nations, NATO and Arab League - may have provided international legitimacy but it has not provided hard cash. Why should Britain do the fighting and the funding?

Working with the so-called "international community" has also, of course, limited our freedom to deliver regime change - the one thing most likely to deliver protection for the Libyan people.

David Cameron will have to watch this whole issue of cash-strapped Britain sending so much money abroad. The cost of the overseas aid budget is an increasingly hot topic and on Comment today Mark Reckless MP notes that EU bailouts are exposing Britain to sums twice as large as the economies we are making at home.