The Prime Minister and Chancellor visited the Royal Marines base in Poole today as they announced an extra £100m funding to support military families and good causes.

David Cameron visited the site in Hamworthy where a new £2.4m family centre is under construction. 

Flanked by David Osborne he met with serving marines and some of the wives and children living on and around the base.

As well as speaking about the new centre, he asked about the children's schools and spoke at some length about the need for improvements to military housing.

The family centre, which should be completed in by early next summer, has been funded by the LIBOR fund - money made available to military charities and projects as a result of fines levied on the banks.

Looking tanned and relaxed Mr Cameron told the gathered families: "These fines from the city keep coming- Lloyd's Bank has just been fined again - so we're going to keep spending them. Obviously if you can come up with good projects.”

He added: “This is a great project. It is exactly what we want to see these fines from the city- from banks behaving badly- this is exactly what we want to use this money for." 

He said that an additional £100m had been made available to be spent on similar causes - all part of the respect shown to the military and their families under the military covenant.

“This is absolutely at the heart of what this government is doing,” he added. “And we will go on trying to find more and more ways to show our loyalty and respect to the British Military for the support they give us.”

When quizzed about how the LIBOR money could be squared away with defence cuts going on elsewhere he insisted that the country's £33bn defence budget was “one of the top five defence budgets of any country in the world.”

“We have extremely capable armed forces able to respond to all threats,” he added. “This money is in addition to the £33b - it's not a case of choosing either or.”

He was also asked about the controversial Navitus Bay wind farm - which Conservative MPS and Councillors locally have objected to - but would not be drawn on it, referring to the “proper planning process to be gone through.”

Local MP Robert Syms accompanied the PM and Chancellor on the visit which was kept under tight wraps until the last minute for security reasons. 

Mr Osborne added: “The money from these fines will help soldiers' injuries and their families and it shows that actions from those demonstrating the worst of values can help those with the best of values."

LIBOR fines

The additional £100 million allocated to good causes is as a result of fines levied by UK regulators on Lloyds Banking Group this week for manipulation of financial benchmarks including the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR).

They will to go to supporting the Armed Forces community as well as other charitable bodies and organisations.

Some of the charities and good causes which will be supported by this latest allocation include The Royal Marine's charity appeal, which will receive a £1m donation in its 350th year, and the Ministry of Defence physical and psychological rehabilitation programmes, which will receive an additional £10m to help ensure wounded soldiers get the long term support they need.

Military doctor/nursing training and bursary payments will receive extended funding so those serving our country get the care they need, wherever they are around the world.

The latest funding builds on the significant sums already provided to support the Armed Forces Covenant, Armed Forces charities and other activities such as the Youth United Network.

In all the government will be allocating over £300 million received from the fines paid by banks to support the Armed Forces Covenant and wider organisations and charitable bodies.