Britannia Radio

16 December 2009 MoD spent £1.5m on glossy magazine Since my posting Two More Letters from an Angry Voter, I have received a reply from the Ministry of Defence on 13 December.  It admits that the total cost of the 38th edition of Sanctuary Magazine was £28,248.  This includes editorial costs, printing , production and distribution “(where costs can be identified)”.  This suggests the true cost was significantly higher, especially after adding in the postage and packing costs of a substantial 92 page glossy magazine with a heavy cover.   Postage per copy for the current issue was £2.14.  Print run was probably at least 5000.  After all, what is the point of such a lavish production if it is not to be distributed widely?  So we can deduce that well over £10,000 was spent on distribution alone, over a third of the admitted budget.  No wonder the caveat “where costs can be identified” was added.  You bet they weren’t all included.   Even the admitted costs are plainly a serious underestimate of the true total, not least because they also ignore internal staff and a proper allocation of overheads.    The £28k are clearly direct costs only.   Since there have been 37 previous issues, it is reasonable to calculate that the total cost from the defence budget of this indefensible self indulgence is probably in the order of £1.5 million – enough for several more of those properly armoured vehicles so desperately needed by our troops in Afghanistan.    To respond to, or comment on this Email, please email ashley.mote@btconnect.com Click www.ashleymote.co.uk to visit the site now.