Richard Dannatt

General Sir Richard Dannatt served as the Chief of the General Staff from 2006 to 2009, after which he was appointed Chairman of the Royal United Services Institute.

Sunday Times sting operation

In 2012, Dannatt was one of several retired senior army officers targeted in a sting operation by Sunday Times journalists posing as representatives of a Korean drone manufacturer.

Dannatt reportedly discussed a fee of £100,000 for two days work a month:

Dannatt wanted to know that the drone he would be pushing was a good bit of kit. With that proviso, he was happy to tap up Bernard Gray, the civilian chief of defence procurement on their behalf.

Dannatt told the Sunday Times that he represented Capita Symonds, which was bidding for a £400 million contract to manage Ministry of Defence estates, and that he had managed to get himself a place next to Permanent Secretary Jon Thompson at a dinner for the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, on the strength of the fact that they had both attended St Lawrence College.

Confronted by the Sunday Times, Dannatt said he had not been paid by Capita Symonds and did not have a contract with them. The company said he had not been instructed to lobby for the bid.

Peers cleared of breaching the lobby code

From ITV News:

Two peers accused of boasting about the way they lobbied top officials to secure military contracts did not break any rules, according to a Whitehall investigation.

The report cleared the former Head of the Army, Lord Dannatt and former Chief of the Defence staff Lord Stirrup. It dismissed a complaint that they used their influence to secure the contracts for private firms.

External Resources

• Marie Woolf, Gordon Brown blocks peerage for army chief Sir Richard Dannatt, Sunday Times, 11 April 2010.