A run through the Ministry of Defence’s public annual accounts gives some insight into how well the department is being run. They reported £3.7 million pound ‘loss’ on the “Cancellation of Project Rarden”. A project from the 1970s…
Project Rarden was a legacy programme dating back to the introduction of the Rarden cannon in the 1970s. After multiple written questions to defence minister Luke Pollard, he eventually admitted there has been no activity or money spent on the programme for at least a decade. He then went on to concede it was an error in the accounts:
“Project Rarden is a legacy project that introduced the Rarden cannon into service in the 1970s. The reference to Project Rarden in the 2024-2025 Ministry of Defence Accounts is an error – this will be corrected.”
The sum was instead related to work on an Armoured Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot munition, funded separately from any vehicle or cannon development. Tory MP Ben Obese-Jecty told Guido:
“This error by the MOD is not just embarrassing, it raises serious concerns – what else is wrong in their annual reports and accounts? It’s no wonder the DIP is late if they are trying to balance the books using programmes that were completed at the height of the cold war. The Ministry of Defence should revalidate all the figures in last year’s accounts.”
Defence civil servants may want to have a flick through the books again at a time Starmer says the UK needs to be ready for war…
