🇬🇧 The UK
13 real examples of unusual British government spending, biggest first. Each one links to its original source, so you can check it yourself.
An unusual cost is not automatically waste. Some had good reasons; some really didn’t. Amounts are in original currency and not adjusted for inflation. See how we check the facts.
- 💾 A national NHS computer system that was scrapped£10.1 billion estimated total cost · 2013
One digital record for every patient in England. Launched 2002.
- 🪖 Ajax armoured reconnaissance vehicles£3.17 billion paid by Dec 2021 · 2022
589 armoured vehicles ordered. By late 2021, how much had been paid, and how many arrived?
- 🚋 Edinburgh’s tram line£776 million cost at opening · 2014
Shorter than planned. Five years late. What did it cost?
- ⛺ The Millennium Dome£628 million Lottery grants · 2000
A giant tent for a year-2000 exhibition. Planned for 12 million paying visitors.
- 🏥 Emergency Covid field hospitals in England£530 million total cost · 2021
Built in weeks in 2020 to handle a Covid surge. How much did they cost, and how busy were they?
- 🚢 Two island ferries built at Ferguson Marine£293 million estimated cost for two ships · 2023
Two ferries ordered in 2015, due in 2018. Guess the price by 2023.
- 🦇 A tunnel to protect bats from HS2 trains£95 million one bat shed · 2025
900 metres long. Up to 10 metres high. For bats.
- 🌉 A garden bridge that was never built£43 million public money · 2017
Years of planning. Tens of millions spent. Zero bridges.
- ⛴️ Settling a lawsuit over no-deal Brexit ferry contracts£33 million legal settlement · 2019
Emergency ferry contracts for a no-deal Brexit. One went to a company that had no ships. Then came the lawsuit.
- 🛰️ Cleaning up space junk£7.5 million one year · 2025
Litter is a problem. Even 400 km up.
- 🎙️ A White House-style press briefing studio in London£2.6 million room refit · 2021
A shiny new studio for daily televised press briefings. Then the briefings got cancelled.
- 🚒 Three water cannons that were never used once£322,834 three cannons · 2018
Bought, fitted, repaired, stored… never switched on.
- 📋 One day of one consultant for NHS Test and Trace£6,624 top daily rate · 2021
England’s Covid testing programme leaned on thousands of consultants. What was the top day rate?
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