Britain's armed forces battle fraud crisis as 'culture change' demanded

Britain's armed forces battle fraud crisis as 'culture change' demandedThe 'normalisation of fraud' is condemned as the Ministry of Defence is condemned for lacking a strategy to stamp out this crime ahead of new investment Share Article Share Article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy Link Link copied Bookmark Add us as preferred source Comments By David Williamson, Chief Political Commentator 06:00, Fri, May 29, 2026 Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Britain's Defence Secretary John Healey react aboard B (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)Britain's armed forces face the challenge of deterring the nation’s foes while stopping fraudsters draining cash from the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Parliament’s spending watchdog has called for a “radical change of culture” and sounded the alarm about the “apparent normalisation of fraud”, with £1.5billion a year potentially lost. The cross-party public accounts committee found the MoD had recovered only 48p for every £1 it spent on tackling fraud and economic crime between 2021-22 and 2024-25 – far less than the £3 return expected.This follows a National Audit Office report warning that in 2024 the MoD received around 2,500 “security incident” reports of missing items – 30% of which were “attractive to criminal and terrorist organisations”, such as “weaponry, protective equipment and communications devices”. Article continues below ADVERTISEMENTThe latest report lands as pressure mounts for the Britain’s armed forces to be strengthened, with spending on contracts due to increase from £40 billion a year to more than £70 billion by 2028-29.Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, who chairs the committee, said: “We welcome the Government’s aim to spend an increasing portion of GDP on defence, even as we are disappointed at the unacceptable and continuing delay in a plan laying out how they will do so. But in the midst of these issues, our report finds that the MoD is far behind the curve in preventing the loss of pr...