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Charities accumulate vast sums of money at the expense of needy veterans

The UK military charity sector has been accused of "hoarding cash" at the expense of veterans

Britain’s ten biggest military charities have combined assets of £1.4 billion and reserves amounting to £275 million, according to The Times newspaper.

The Times analysis has revealed that the UK’s 1,500 armed forces charities together hold in excess of £3.1 billion in savings.

That has prompted concerns that the charities may be “hoarding cash” even as British military veterans struggle to make ends meet.

The i newspaper reported on September 16, 2018,  that more than 60,000 “armed forces veterans” in Britain have “broken the law”, are “homeless” or are suffering “mental health” problems.

The figures were compiled by the Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, which relied on parliamentary questions, academic research and military charities to collate the information.

The party’s justice spokeswoman, Liz Saville Roberts, claimed that the actual figures were likely to be “far higher”.

In a series of tweets yesterday, The Times defence correspondent, Lucy Fisher, provided fresh insights into the scale of the problem. Citing Ministry of Defence estimates, Fisher says there were 2.5 million military veterans in the UK in 2016, with half of them aged over 75.

Fisher reveals that nine of the top ten military charities have received grants, ranging from £360,000 to £3 million, from fines imposed on banks in the wake of the Libor-rigging scandal.

According to Fisher, Libor levies raised £970 million, most of which was supplied to military causes and the emergency services after 2012.

It is not clear how much of this money (if any) has been spent on veterans’ welfare.   


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