Defence Budget Overspend - Time to Stop Defending the Indefensible says Hilary Meredith-Beckham

Newly released papers reveal that defence chiefs were projected to overspend their budget by more than £2 billion unless they made drastic cuts to the armed forces.

A leaked document showing projected spending for the 2025–26 financial year indicated that the Ministry of Defence was forecast to spend £1.6 billion more on day-to-day costs and £1 billion more on capital investments than the amount allocated by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

According to The Daily Telegraph, which saw the document, the Army, Navy and Air Force have been asked to consider scaling back in areas such as training to save money.

I have a better idea. Perhaps the MoD should stop defending the indefensible - such as cases of death or injury in service where there is clearly a legal liability to pay compensation.

A freedom of information request by my firm revealed that the MoD spends around £20 million a year on legal costs defending compensation claims.

In reality, the MoD seems unwilling to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, as any insurance company would. The culture needs to change. The taxpayers’ money currently wasted on unnecessary legal battles would be far better spent where it’s truly needed - in the hands of our injured soldiers and veterans.