The conflict in Iraq and efforts to rebuild the country have cost British taxpayers about £6.6bn ($13.3bn), almost a third more than the funds Prime Minister Gordon Brown set aside for the military to fight the war.

Public accounts show that departmental spending on aid, debt relief and security adds about £1.6bn to the most commonly referenced estimate of UK war costs – a £5bn calculation based on money drawn down by the military from a Treasury contingency reserve.