The Cost of the Iraq War vs. The Royal Mail

According to the Financial Times the Ministry of Defence estimates the cost of the war as £8.4 billion, £800 million or so less than my guess. No doubt the Iraq Inquiry will clarify this in due course. This compares with an estimated cost of £2.5 billion, the Government having believed the war would only last six months.

Coincidentally The Guardian  reports that £10 billion is about the size of the Royal Mail's pension deficit, which arose while the Royal Mail took a contributions holiday between 1990 and 2003 (although the employees continued to pay their contributions). Meanwhile, the Government held on to £2 billion of the Royal Mail's profits.