DF in case you hadn't noticed, half the world is fighting, the other half trying to stop them, so sometimes, like a good politician should, they go and help, intervene, and sometimes give advice, along with sundry ministers. They have to be seen to be on the world stage, otherwise we are just seen as a minnow in a big sea. Shoring up countries like Libya for the future, we need oil, and to trade with other nations, otherwise we go under. And as pointed out the NHS is a bottomless pit, and you could pour 500 billion into it and it still wouldn't be enough.