Families angry at £300m MoD bonuses

Nov 12 2009

Families whose loved ones made the ultimate sacrifice for their country have reacted angrily to news that civil servants at the Ministry of Defence have shared performance bonuses of almost £300 million since the start of the war in Iraq.

Official MoD figures show a total of £287,809,049 has been paid out in bonuses to civil servants since 2003, including more than £47 million this year.

Bereaved families said the bonuses were "absolutely disgusting" while troops were "making do" in Afghanistan.

Hazel Hunt, whose son died in August, said it was "obscene" that troops were being "short-changed".

Private Richard Hunt, 21, was injured following an explosion while on vehicle patrol for the 2nd Battalion the Royal Welsh in Helmand Province and died in hospital two days later.

Mrs Hunt said: "I would take great exception to bonuses paid for 'exceptional performance'. They are not delivering and I think it is obscene they have got such bonuses while our troops are being short changed; not only in equipment but also in the fact that my son was barely on £17,000 a year.

Phil Cooper - whose son Jamie received £200,000 in compensation for injuries received in Iraq while aged just 18 - said it was "absolutely disgusting that they can do this from the safety of their armchairs".

The MoD said the bonuses - going to around 50,000 staff - would average less than £1,000 this year. But some senior officials may be receiving as much as £8,000, according to reports.

In a written reply to shadow defence secretary Liam Fox, defence minister Kevan Jones revealed that in the seven months from April to October this year, MoD staff received bonuses totalling £47,283,853. MoD sources said the majority of bonuses are handed out in August, so the figure is unlikely to rise by much over the remaining five months of the financial year.

The figure was down on the £52,984,656 paid out in 2008/09, but higher than the previous year's £46,103,238 and almost double the bonuses totalling £24,866,213 paid out in 2003/04.