Defence `waste' of pounds 1m chateau
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Labour yesterday accused the Ministry of Defence of squandering more than pounds 1m of taxpayers' money over the sale of a Belgian chateau which "it was madness to buy in the first place".
David Clark, shadow Secretary of State for Defence, said: "This bleeding of public finances by the Ministry of Defence has to be stemmed - and quickly."
Dr Clark is to table Commons questions to the Secretary of State, Michael Portillo, over the purchase in 1992 of the Brussels Chateau Bois de Mai for pounds 2.2m to serve as the official residence of Field Marshal Sir Richard Vincent as chairman of Nato's military committee. "pounds 800,000 was spent on refurbishing it. Now, after four years in the post, Sir Richard has moved on and the Ministry are having to sell it for pounds 1.55m.
"Taxpayers' money is no longer safe in the hands of the Ministry of Defence. It is a scandal and an outrage that they have wasted this money. Most other nations rent rather than buy property for this purpose, which is the eminently sensible thing to do. It was therefore sheer madness to buy this property in the first place when they could have leased something equally suitable and at far less cost to the British taxpayer.
"This is why I now call the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Waste. This pounds 1m down the drain is just the latest scandalous example of the billions of pounds they have wasted over recent years."
A Defence Ministry spokeswoman said: "In the case of this property, when the job the ... officer was doing came to an end, we have a disposal policy under which we hope to get money back for the taxpayer for all properties surplus to requirement." She could not confirm the pounds 1.55m sale price Dr Clark mentioned, as the figure was commercially confidential.
"It was thought that in the long term it would be better value purchasing than leasing a property," she added.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments