MPs accused of ‘creative accounting’ to meet defence spending targets

A Defence Select Committee report has called into question the government's spend of 2 per cent of GDP on Defence

The report says that the Ministry of Defence was only able to meet the NATO spending target by including things like war pensions or intelligence-gathering, which previously came under other budgets.

It says: ‘While the government’s revised accounting strategy to achieve defence expenditure at 2% of GDP conforms to NATO guidelines, it incorporates items — such as more than £1bn in war pensions and MoD civilian pensions — not previously included in the defence budget.”

The report goes on to say: ‘The only way that the Ministry of Defence can refute claims of ‘creative accounting’ is to outline, clearly and unambiguously, what the new inclusions are, how much they constitute, and from which department each was previously funded.’

The Committee also called on ministers to explain how they would continue to meet the 2 per cent target for the rest of the parliament.