Nia Griffith MP, Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary, responding to the National Audit Office’s report into the Ministry of Defence’s arrangement with Annington Property Limited, said:

“This report is a damning indictment of the Conservatives’ decision to privatise the housing of service personnel and their families in 1996.

“At the time they ignored repeated warnings that this sell-off of public assets would not deliver value for money, and now we learn that this dodgy deal may have cost the taxpayer up to £4.2bn.

“At a time when the defence budget is under severe pressure, with cuts to Armed Forces personnel and equipment looming, this level of waste beggars belief.

“This has left us in the ridiculous position where the Government now rents back the same accommodation at increased cost, and the MoD will be held over a barrel if the company demands costly rent rises in future.

“This is a classic example of putting an ideological belief in privatisation above the wellbeing of service members and their families. It is time that we ended the racket of outsourcing and delivered solutions that benefit both taxpayers and Forces personnel.”

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