Taxpayers fork out millions on hotels for defence chiefs as troops live in squalor

Defence chiefs invest millions remaining in first-class hotels worldwide while soldiers reside in squalor.

Hundreds of senior officers and authorities have actually delighted in elegant ₤500- a-night hotels in Hawaii, Dubai and the Caribbean while working for the federal government.

On one three-night journey, 2 individuals added a ₤ 3,000 costs at the Kimpton Seafire Resort and Spa in Grand Cayman– among the Caribbean’s the majority of unique resorts.

And an officer acquired an expense of ₤ 2,700 for 5 nights at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu.

An overall of ₤230 million went on travel in the last 3 years.

The Ministry of Defence likewise invested practically ₤17 million on hire automobiles in the in 2015 and a more ₤ 1million on chauffeured flights in the last 2 years.

It was billed ₤ 5,383 for one authorities’s 70- mile journey from Witney in Oxfordshire to Westminster.

The figures, launched after a Freedom of Information demand, were branded “stunning” by one ex-officer. Col Philip Ingram stated: “Luxury on journeys appears to be the standard, as is enduring workers and households residing in squalor in some locations. That is the application of gross double requirements.”

In December, our sibling paper the Sunday People exposed that thousands resided in moist, mouldy, freezing and broken-down houses.

Since 2021, squaddies and their households have actually made more than 9,000 problems.

One lady informed how her house was left without heating for 2 months over the winter season since of a defective gas valve. She stated: “This is beyond a joke. The world requires to understand how service households are being dealt with.”

Another Army other half waited over 4 years to have actually a window repaired.

And a warrant officer invested ₤350 warming his house in December. He stated: “It would be less expensive to reside in a camping tent than it would these stacks of crap they call houses.”

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson stated: “Expenses go through stringent controls and personnel should show their stay is required and worth for cash.”