General makes his last charge

GENERAL Lord (David) Richards never had much time for the ‘bean counters’ in Whitehall when he was chief of the Armed Forces.

Lord Richards was furious after a cost- cutting drive meant that his successors were barred from living in a grace-and-favour apartment in Kensington Palace, reputed to have been costing the taxpayer £100,000 per year.

However, it seems he did manage to get in one last pop at the money men before he went. It can now be disclosed that the removals bill when he left the palace in 2013 came in at £3,670.

According to removals firm Armishaws, when Richards moved into the flat in 2009 he gave each member of its team a ‘limited edition commemorative coin’.