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Ministry of Defence 'paid £22 for 65p light bulb' | |
(40 minutes later) | |
The Ministry of Defence paid £22 each for light bulbs available for 65p, it has been reported. | |
Defence Secretary Liam Fox described it as "inexcusable" and evidence of a waste of taxpayers' money by the previous Labour government. | Defence Secretary Liam Fox described it as "inexcusable" and evidence of a waste of taxpayers' money by the previous Labour government. |
>The Sun newspaper published an invoice it said it was shown by a soldier who works in the stores of a UK base. | |
Defence chiefs are also said to have paid £103 a time for screws, believed to be on sale online for £2.60. | |
The soldier told the Sun he could not ignore the "criminal" waste he saw every day. | |
He was quoted as saying: "You're talking about a fortune for these bulbs. If I order 100, that's over £2,000. But you can pick them up for 65p each, the exact same ones. | |
"There must be thousands of light bulbs across the MoD. If people paid attention to simple things like this, they could save a lot of money - and maybe jobs." | "There must be thousands of light bulbs across the MoD. If people paid attention to simple things like this, they could save a lot of money - and maybe jobs." |
'Common sense' | 'Common sense' |
The soldier, who The Sun did not name, said specialist contractors sourced items for the military and added their costs on to the price, but large savings could be made by buying in bulk. | |
Dr Fox told paper: "We are already tackling the procurement problems we inherited head-on. When money is tight and we need to protect the front line, waste is inexcusable. | Dr Fox told paper: "We are already tackling the procurement problems we inherited head-on. When money is tight and we need to protect the front line, waste is inexcusable. |
"This is classic evidence of how Labour wasted taxpayers' money and shows a complete lack of common sense. No wonder the last government left the MoD with a budget deficit of £38bn." | "This is classic evidence of how Labour wasted taxpayers' money and shows a complete lack of common sense. No wonder the last government left the MoD with a budget deficit of £38bn." |
An MoD spokesman said: "Given the current financial situation, we are looking at existing contracts to ensure value for money and taking steps to make efficiency savings." | An MoD spokesman said: "Given the current financial situation, we are looking at existing contracts to ensure value for money and taking steps to make efficiency savings." |
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