Geoff Hoon has written to Tony Blair to claim that the Treasury's demands for a £1.2 billion cut in defence spending plans will put at risk "current and future" military operations.

According to the Times, the defence secretary's letter is being seen by Downing Street as a direct appeal, over the head of Gordon Brown, for the prime minister to intervene.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph reports that the British ambassador in Kuwait has threatened to close the embassy for the next three weeks because of spending cuts.

In a leaked memo to Foreign Office chiefs, the ambassador, Christopher Wilton, says: "We're broke."