Ministry of Defence has blown £13BILLION on failed or delayed equipment programmes in the past decade – including £13m on earplugs that didn’t work

  • Labour has released a wide range of ‘dossier on waste’.
  • Among the cash spent was £5.7million on earplugs that were thrown away
  • John Healey, Labour: Ministers failing British troops and British taxpayers 










The Ministry of Defence has been accused of blowing £13billion of taxpayers money over the past decade on a litany of delayed or scrapped programmes.

Labour has compiled a comprehensive “dossier” of waste. It claims the money was used on cancelled contracts, project overbudgets and investment in programs later to have to be written off.

The opposition claims that the amount wasted since current Defence Secretary Ben Wallace took over in 2019 is £4billion, enough to build four new Type 45 destroyers for the Royal Navy.

Among the cash spent was £5.7million on earplugs for personnel later found to be unsuitable for use on military operations. 

It comes at a time when the MoD has complained of a funding black hole of up to £17.4 billion, with cuts to the British Army’s manpower and tank forces.

John Healey, shadow defence secretary said that the MoD was a unique failing department and ministers had not taken any serious steps to ensure taxpayers get value.

“This level of waste is completely unacceptable. British taxpayers and British soldiers are being neglected by ministers. 

Shadow defence secretary John Healey said: 'The MoD is a uniquely failing department, yet ministers have taken no serious steps to secure value for taxpayers' money.'

John Healey, shadow defence secretary said that the MoD was a unique failing department and ministers had not taken any serious steps to ensure taxpayer money is secure.

The opposition claims that the amount wasted since current Defence Secretary Ben Wallace took over in 2019 is £4billion

The opposition claims that the amount wasted since current Defence Secretary Ben Wallace took over in 2019 is £4billion

That would be enough to build four new Type 45 destroyers for the Royal Navy at £1billion a time (HMS Diamond pictured)

That would be enough to build four new Type 45 destroyers for the Royal Navy at £1billion a time (HMS Diamond pictured)

The opposition identified 67 instances of waste in the 16-page dossier. These cases were all from 2010 to 2010. The money lost includes £4.8billion on cancelled contracts, £5.6billion on project overspends and £2.5billion of written-off investments. 

Labour asserts that these funds would have filled in the MoD’s large black hole. 

According to the Army, its manpower will drop to 72,500 in 2025. Meanwhile, its tank number is expected to decrease by one-third from 227-227 to 148. 

Labour’s dossier argues that the waste identified in 2019-2020 (£406million) alone could have almost paid to maintain tank numbers at the higher level (£430million). 

It also identifies other cases from public sources:

  • A £1billion overspend on building the Mensa nuclear warhead facility near Reading
  • A £1billion overspend on the Astute attack submarine programme 
  •  A £325million overspend on the Protector drone project
  • A £333million overspend on a new nuclear submarine core facility in Derby 
  • The cancellation of planned modernisation of the Warrior armoured vehicle fleet at a cost of £595million
  • The £231million cost of writing off land vehicle used in previous deployments, including Mastiff, Ridgeback and Wolfhound armoured vehicles.

Last year the National Autdit Office (NAO) labelled the military’s equipment plan – covering projects from jet fighters to frigates – as ‘unaffordable’ for the fourth consecutive year.

The equipment plan covers the period from 2020 to 2030 and has an estimated cost of £197.4 billion, covering equipment already in use such as the F-35 Lightning II jets and projects still in development including the Type 26 frigate.

While the MoD estimates the shortfall in funding as being £7.3 billion, it could be as high as £17.4 billion in a worst-case scenario.

Last November the Public Accounts Committee said that the MoD defence equipment systems were  ‘broken and repeatedly wasting billions of taxpayers’ money’ 

A MoD spokesperson stated that the government was serious about investing in defense modernization to make sure the UK’s armed forces are equipped to deal with today’s threats. 

“That requires making difficult decisions regarding the replacement of old equipment, and stopping programmes that are not meeting requirements. 

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