Defence chiefs splashed out over £1billion of taxpayer cash on external consultants since 2010

CASH-strapped defence chiefs have splashed out more than £1billion of taxpayer funds on external consultants since 2010, figures reveal.

And more than £1.5billion was also splurged by the Ministry of Defence on temporary staff in five years.

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Cash for consultants shot up fivefold from the £26million that was spent in 2010.

Meanwhile, spending on temporary staff surged by 53 per cent between 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, Labour analysis found.

Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey blasted the Tories for the “ever-increasing” amounts while “continuing to hollow out our Armed Forces”.

He added: “Since 2010, successive Conservative governments have wasted at least £15billion of taxpayers’ money, have failed to deliver major defence projects and ministers are still cutting the British Army to the smallest size since Napoleon.

“Labour will conduct an across-the-board audit of MoD waste to ensure value for taxpayers’ money.”

The Tories have pledged to raise defence spending to 2.5 per cent despite pressure for more.