Our military bosses’ luxury lifestyles, that we pay for

About 30,000 soldiers, sailors and RAF may be thrown on the scrap heap. But if you’re one of the British military’s top brass, you can carry on with your luxury lifestyle.

There’s £36 million a year being spent to subsidise the homes of 413 military leaders – around £87,000 per year each. Of these, thirty two receive a total of £5 million a year – over £156,000 a year each. One army general was reported to have kept a sergeant and a corporal back from going to fight in Afghanistan so they could work as servants running his home. A Tory MP and former military officer criticised the use of trained personnel as servants, ‘they are being misemployed shaking out napkins and polishing cutlery when they should be with their units practising firing mortar bombs and going out on operations’. Several top officers also have full-time gardeners, all paid for out of the military budget. The father of a Lance Corporal killed in Iraq didn’t seem impressed by the top officers’ taxpayer-subsidised lifestyles:

 “My son was not given a battery for his radio or a £1.50 distress flare so he was not able to signal for help when he was attacked. Yet the MoD seems to be able to find ridiculous amounts of money so the top brass has somebody to mow their lawns and water their plants.”

 Moreover, the military have the most expensive car pool of any government department, yet its bosses spend millions more being ferried around the UK in helicopters which perhaps could be more usefully deployed supporting our troops. In response to criticism of the amount being paid for top officers’ homes and servants, an MoD spokesman said, ‘senior officers filling certain posts are expected to entertain in order to enhance defence objectives’.