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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| MoD flies emergency cash to Cyprus for British personnel | MoD flies emergency cash to Cyprus for British personnel |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| An RAF plane carrying 1m euros is flying to Cyprus from Britain as a "contingency measure" to provide military personnel with emergency loans, the Ministry of Defence said. | |
| The money is to be used for British personnel and their families if cash machines and debit cards stop working. | |
| The move came after a controversial one-off levy of up to almost 10% on savings in Cyprus was mooted. | |
| The tax is a condition for Cyprus to get a loan from the EU and IMF. | The tax is a condition for Cyprus to get a loan from the EU and IMF. |
| Cyprus needs a 10bn euro (£8.7bn; $13bn) bailout to rescue its banks. | Cyprus needs a 10bn euro (£8.7bn; $13bn) bailout to rescue its banks. |
| Salary needs | Salary needs |
| A revised version of the tax would mean a 6.75% levy on deposits over 20,000 euros, with those over 100,000 euros charged at 9.9% - but the Cypriot parliament voted against the move after a debate on Tuesday. | |
| The levy was due to affect many of the 3,000 UK military personnel in Cyprus, and up to an estimated 25,000 expatriates. | |
| The cash - about £850,000 - is being flown out on one of the two weekly flights that travel between Britain and Cyprus. It is being carried on a Voyager aircraft, which left from RAF Brize Norton and is expected to arrive at RAF Akrotiri at about 20:00 GMT. | The cash - about £850,000 - is being flown out on one of the two weekly flights that travel between Britain and Cyprus. It is being carried on a Voyager aircraft, which left from RAF Brize Norton and is expected to arrive at RAF Akrotiri at about 20:00 GMT. |
| An MoD spokesman said the situation was being kept under review and that it would consider further shipments if required, but that the cash was a contingency and not currently due to be distributed. | An MoD spokesman said the situation was being kept under review and that it would consider further shipments if required, but that the cash was a contingency and not currently due to be distributed. |
| "The MoD is proactively approaching personnel to ask if they want their March, and future months' salaries paid into UK bank accounts, rather than Cypriot accounts," they said. | "The MoD is proactively approaching personnel to ask if they want their March, and future months' salaries paid into UK bank accounts, rather than Cypriot accounts," they said. |
| "We're determined to do everything we can to minimise the impact of the Cyprus banking crisis on our people." | "We're determined to do everything we can to minimise the impact of the Cyprus banking crisis on our people." |
| Chancellor George Osborne had already said the UK would compensate any British troops in Cyprus hit by plans to introduce a bank levy. | |
| And British government workers would also be protected, he said. | And British government workers would also be protected, he said. |