The £70m Farce That Exposes Rot at the Heart of the Royal Navy
19th December 2025
Britain spent £72m of taxpayers’ money refurbishing a Royal Navy warship before selling it to Brazil at a knockdown price.
Labour axed HMS Bulwark in November last year, in the middle of a major upgrade programme, alongside sister ship HMS Albion.
While the fate of Albion is unclear, Bulwark has been sold to Brazil, reportedly for about £20m in a fire sale, and is expected to head to the South American country next year.
Critics branded the deal “a spectacular failure” that would leave taxpayers “absolutely outraged”, and suggested it was a sign of more widespread failings in Britain’s military spending plans.
Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to increase defence spending from 2.3 per cent of GDP to 2.6 per cent by 2027 as part of a race to rearm ahead of possible conflict with Russia.
Looser pledges have also been made to hit 3 per cent in the early 2030s and 3.5 per cent by 2035.