Fury at £27k invoice for MoD workplace revamp whereas troops dwell in squalor
More than £27,000 has been spent revamping the Defence Secretary’s personal workplace whereas 1000’s of troops and their households are caught in properties unfit to dwell in.
The Ministry of Defence has admitted splurging on new wallpaper and carpets when Ben Wallace held the put up in 2022, earlier than being changed by Grant Shapps. And it comes as one army household feared their daughter was about to die after falling in poor health of their mouldy house.
A former Army colonel has blasted the Whitehall spruce-up as “disgusting”. And one decorator branded the price of the work “excessive”, including: “I can only assume that the actual wallpaper must have cost a fortune.”
The full price, together with £15,000 on wallpaper and £12,000 of recent carpets, was disclosed by the MoD days after it emerged a two-year-old dwelling in Service Families Accommodation was rushed to hospital with respiration difficulties. The household reported mould however got a can of anti-mould spray and waited seven weeks for an inspection.
They mentioned the toddler started coughing and vomiting, changing into “unresponsive, floppy and blue”. She was identified with gastroenteritis and hypoglycaemia – which will be brought on by publicity to mycotoxins in damp and mildew. The household at the moment are in momentary housing after a unit welfare officer stepped in.
More than 25,000 troops are in properties deemed “deficient” by inspectors. Some 1,300 are so dangerous occupants can’t be charged lease below Government guidelines. Ex-Army intelligence officer Col Philip Ingram mentioned: “I am disgusted the MoD feels it appropriate to spend huge sums on ministers’ offices. It beggars belief when so many soldiers are in substandard accommodation. It’s no wonder recruitment and retention are at all-time lows but it’s clear ministers don’t care, provided their offices are OK.”
It isn’t the primary Tory wallpaper scandal. In 2022 it emerged then-PM Boris Johnson spent £7,000 of taxpayer money portray over the notorious “gold” wallpaper in his Downing Street flat.
The MoD mentioned: “The Defence Secretary has made improving the standard of military accommodation a personal priority. That is why we are investing an additional £400million over the next two years to improve military housing, [including] damp and mould improvements to about 4,000 properties.”
