RAF Flight from Britain to Cyprus carried E1 million to offer loans Military personnel

By James Kirkup, and Rowena
Mason

3:47PM GMT 19 Mar 2013


68 Comments




A regular RAF flight from Britain to Cyprus took off this
afternoon carrying the cash.


Officials said the money, worth £860,000, will be available for emergency
loans for Service personnel who find themselves unable to access cash in Cyprus.



More money could be sent if required, it is understood.


Ministry of Defence officials are also working on plans to allow British
personnel in Cyprus to have their monthly salary paid into non-Cypriot bank
accounts next month.


The Cypriot parliament will on Tuesday vote on fresh plans to seize money
from bank accounts held in the country.



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The levy is part of a controversial European Union bank rescue deal that has
raised warnings of a run on other European banks and drawn strong protests from
Russia, which yesterday threatened to withdraw a financial aid package from the
island.

The row has forced the Cypriot government to close the island's banks for
three days while an agreement is reached.

There are around 3,000 British Armed Forces personnel in Cyprus, where the UK
has a large base.

On Sunday, George Osborne, the Chancellor promised to cover all military
losses in Cyprus, promising the Forces he would "compensate anyone who is
affected by this bank tax".

However, Greg Clark, a Treasury minister, told MPs on Monday that the
Treasury will cover only "reasonable losses" incurred by British Service
personnel in Cyprus