Nearly 60 percent of retired senior British military officers now working in the defence industry have appeared as expert commentators in UK media without any disclosure of their commercial ties, a conflict research charity has found.

The London-based group Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) examined a decade of UK media appearances by former British senior military figures. 

UK MEDIA FAILS TO DISCLOSE DEFENCE INDUSTRY TIES OF MOST MILITARY COMMENTATORS

New research shows former top British military officers are weighing in on wars and defence spending without public awareness of their commercial interests

BY AMY KILLINGBECK AND IAIN OVERTON

It found 33 retired officers currently or recently working in defence, security, intelligence or military technology who had also been cited in the British press. 

Nineteen of these – or 58 percent – were quoted on matters of defence based on their military experience alone, without their paid-for military-industrial roles being disclosed to audiences.

The findings raise questions about transparency in reporting on defence and national security, particularly at a time when UK military spending is rapidly rising under the justification Britain is on a “war footing”.

Retired military officers are a regular feature of British news coverage. Their experience in the armed forces often makes them sought-after commentators on issues ranging from the war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East to defence procurement and military readiness.

Some of them include the most senior figures in modern British military leadership, including former Chiefs of the Defence Staff, Chiefs of the General Staff, First Sea Lords, Air Chief Marshals and NATO commanders.

Among those highlighted is General Sir Nick Carter, the former Chief of the Defence Staff. Carter has held advisory roles with the German defence technology company Helsing and worked as a strategic adviser to Exigent Capital, which helps defence firms develop growth strategies. 

Yet media reports often identified him simply as a former military chief. In a Telegraph article from February 2025, for instance, Carter argued that “defence spending had to increase now”, while being described only as a former head of the British armed forces.

General Sir Chris Deverell receives similar treatment, with his consultancy work with defence and military technology firms including Helsing and Babcock going unreported. 

In a November 2025 Telegraph article where he advocated for higher British defence spending, readers were told only that he had been “the four-star head of Joint Forces Command and a senior officer in the British Army”, with no mention of his commercial work.

Lord Houghton, another former Chief of the Defence Staff, currently advises defence contractor Thales UK and chairs Defence Holdings PLC. 

But this would not be clear to readers of his Daily Mail article in April 2024 in which he backed increased defence spending while his industry positions went unmentioned.

Perhaps the most striking example is Colonel Richard Kemp, a frequent commentator on Israel and Gaza. 

Kemp is a trustee of UK Friends of the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel’s Soldiers, an organisation linked to the Israeli military. 

Yet in a Telegraph article from August 2025 in which he argued that “Israel has little choice but to occupy Gaza”, such clear connections to Israel went undisclosed.

Dr Paul Lashmar, former head of the journalism department at City University said of the findings: “It is not good enough for the journalist just to give the former rank and name of a military commentator if they are now working for a defence contractor.” 

“Current employment, if relevant, must be stated otherwise the public can be oblivious of any conflict of interest. For example, it is one thing to have led a tank regiment but another if the ‘expert’ is now working for a company manufacturing tanks,” Lashmar said.

Professor Justin Schlosberg, an expert on hidden media power, ownership and disinformation at the University of Westminster, told Declassified UK“that nearly 60% of these senior military commentators were presented without disclosing their corporate paymasters undermines the principles of transparent, public interest journalism”. 

“It’s a reflection of how captured British journalism is by the military industrial complex. An open and honest debate about unprecedented militarisation has never been more needed. Instead it’s been turned into a managed consensus,” he said.

The Telegraph stood out for its repeatedly having published commentary and opinion from former senior military figures advocating increased defence spending or military escalation without adequately disclosing their commercial defence interests. 

The Telegraph did not respond to a request for comment.

However, similar failures also appeared across the Daily Mail, Express, The Independent, iPaper, The Sun, LBC, Sky News, Times Radio, and Channel 4 News.

https://www.declassifieduk.org/uk-media-fails-to-disclose-defence-industry-ties-of-most-military-commentators/

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