MoD pays £150,000 to pulp Afghanistan book after bureaucratic blunder

Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, was said to be “incensed” last night by a bureaucratic blunder that left taxpayers with a £150,000 bill to pulp thousands of copies of a new book said to threaten national security.

By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter, The Telegraph, 03 Mar 2011


The manuscript of the book about British operations in Afghanistan had been cleared by the Ministry of Defence after a four-month review process, but on the eve of publication senior officials decided further changes were needed.

Because the publishers Quercus had already completed the 24,000-copy print run, the MoD agreed to purchase all of the books, costing £151,450, and oversee their destruction. The total bill amounts to more than the annual salary of 10 Army recruits.

It is believed that Dr Fox, who has attacked what he describes as the MoD’s culture of waste and “mushrooming costs” had to personally approve the payment for the copies of Dead Men Risen: The Welsh Guards and the Real Story of Britain’s War in Afghanistan, by Toby Harnden, the Daily Telegraph’s US Editor.


But sources said the Defence Secretary was deeply angered by the MoD’s failure to spot the necessary amendments during the lengthy review of the manuscript, which had already led to almost 500 requests for changes.

The decision to buy and pulp the books was taken after interventions from the highest levels of the MoD and the Army. General Sir David Richards, Chief of the Defence Staff and Britain’s most senior officer, made a personal plea to Quercus senior executives to agree to amendments to the book.

Negotiations with the publishers went on for 12 days and lasted until late last night on what should have been publication day. A number of minor alterations will now be made and Dead Men Risen will be published on March 17th.


Full story at The Telegraph.