Last year, defense leaders used over £200 million of public funds for travels and lavish accommodations for high-ranking officials, even as soldiers endured deplorable living conditions.
Figures
launched by the Department of Defence (DoD)
demonstrate how frequently officers and public officials resided in high-end five-star hotels with nightly rates exceeding £300.
Between 2018 and 2024, the MoD expended nearly £800 million on accommodations and trips to places including the French Alps.
Las Vegas
.
In stark contrast, the living conditions for personnel in UK Armed Forces housing during this time – some
overrun with pests and toxic black mold
— resulted in over 60,000 grievances.
Freedom of Information requests gathered by The Mail on Sunday and National Security News disclosed a significant increase in expenses from £136 million in 2018 to £218 million by 2024. These funds cover expenditures related to hotel stays, airfare, as well as rail and ferry travels.
The data disclosed that many MoD employees lodged in expensive hotels in the city centre.
London
Including the Park Plaza and the Marriott — which can have prices reaching up to £400 per night.
Away from the UK, a guest received a £1,426 invoice for a four-night stay at the Auberge Saint Hubert Hotel in the Val d’Isère ski resort in France. Another individual accumulated a charge of £1,032 for three nights at the Novotel Sydney Harbour in Australia. Additionally, one employee had a seven-night stay at the Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort costing £2,439.
Additionally, another employee incurred expenses of £323 for a single night’s stay at the four-star Hampton Inn Tropicana in Las Vegas. In defense of these charges, the Ministry of Defence contended that over 200,000 civil servants and military personnel are frequently stationed abroad and require hotel accommodations as part of their duties.
A commanding officer from an infantry battalion stationed in Bulford shared with the MoD, “My personnel are residing in substandard accommodations and facing persistent issues.”
battling to get repairs
I have troops on medical leave residing in dwellings that are scarcely livable.
Callum McGoldrick, a researcher for the TaxPayers’ Alliance, stated: “Spending hundreds of millions on accommodations and airfares brings into question the priorities within Whitehall. It is crucial for ministers to gain control over Ministry of Defence expenditures.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence stated: “These numbers pertain to expenditures during the tenure of the former administration. The current government is dedicated to gaining control over Ministry of Defence finances.”
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