St Crispin’s Day

This video is a couple of years old but I would urge you to put asside 45 minutes to look at this, and when you do, do with an open mind.  Robert Newman is a VERY bright bloke listen to him.

The History of Oil

Imagine that as a headline?  Would anyone complain?  No?  Well MPs (and all public representatives) need to realise that they are no longer valued, and 20-30K seem like too much to pay them let alone £100!

They want to be representative more than the people want them  Its the same reason firefighters get paid so little!

BBC NEWS | UK | MoD insists Nimrod ’safe to fly’

HHmmm,, now the concerned, but un-biased corroner says that the nimrod is unsafe (and must be grounded immediatly) and the governemt (tight with money ‘cos they’ve spent ten years wasting it on the national health service &  youth offending programmes) says that it’s safe.

Whow do we all believe?  

If it’s safe why are we buying a new version?

Since when did any government replace something expensive before it was needed?  They always wait until it’s too late.

I may have said it before, but some who know me know I spent some hours in Nimrods, and I always had a vague nervous feeling that I was being flown in something older that me!

I went to a very interesting meeting today (which I can’t tell you about)

I learned that the government has made some political decisions about the armed forces (which I can’t tell you about)

These will directly lead to bad thing happening (which I can’t tell you about)

I’m sure they have a plan to deny it all or ignore it or cover it up.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Ministers consider UK astronauts

A British space program is a fine thing to strive for (although I expect it’s 40 years too late).  But what about the priorities?  Simply put, I think we have to sort out social issies first.  And, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, surely defence ( and possibly ome other bits of the budget) need the money first.

Just a thoughrt, and why we didn’t go to the moon 40 years ago?  According Al Murray the pub landlord “‘cos there was nobody to hand it back to after we’d finished with it”

BBC NEWS | Politics | Tories bid to ‘transform Lottery’

 So, here we see a policy on the lottery from the tories, but still no word on how big the army needs to be? We need a definitive statement from them on;-

1. If they think the military (especially the Army) is big enough.

2. How much the percentage of GDP needs to be increased (I was always of the opinion that the tories wer pro-military).

3. What cuts to other schemes will go to pay for the increases that are CLEARLY NEEDED.

BBC NEWS | UK | Uniform plan for off-duty troops

This whole plan smacks of pure window dressing on the part of the government I’m afraid.  It’s part of the desperate scrabble to do something about the flood of soldiers, sailors & airmen leaving in hbigher numbers than tey are joining.  I warned of this a while ago, and although everyone could see it coming, no one has done anything until it is too late.  You can’t just re-generate an Army through recruitment.  It take 10 years to make a sergeant!

I do not beleive many soldiers would wish to wear their uniform whilst off duty.  I certainly wouldn’t, as it would be considered “waltish” (from Walter Mitty).  What some may wish to do is wear uniform whilst travelling on public transport or to and from their duties.  Currently it is up to the individual soldier, but most choose to take a the advice of their commanding officer, and keep their uniforms covered up when driving.

I once wore my uniform on a train journey to go from London to Plymouth, including the underground.  It was not a comfortable experience, and I did not repeat it.  I got two “smart alec” comments on the tube, and there was a general feeling of being stared at throughout the journey.

In addition to the personal choices, we need to change the “official” stance on the wearing of uniform in public.  Currently all BAA airports have a no uniform policy.  I wonder why this is, but suspect it’s because it “scares the customers”!

BBC NEWS | Politics | Hain quits jobs ‘to clear name’

I don’t know how much Mr. Hain has done wrong,  but one thing he’s mentioned in his defence is that since he has been too busy doing two jobs he’s let things drop.  So, who else is in this situation?  I’ve mentioned Mr. Browne’s extra jobs as both Defence & Scotland.    I wonder how many things he’s dropped whilst trying to cover both jobs?

BBC NEWS | Politics | Troops to get council tax rebate

 Total spin, and a zero sum game, yet again.  The government really thinks we the public are stupid by insulting us with this announcment.

The money comes out of the forces budget, so there’s no overall benefit. In fact, it’s worse, as rather than paying additional monies to the MOD for the “extra” war fighting, it’s actually making them take more from thier budget for activities they have not chosen to do (i.e. it’s Blair, Brown who decided this. the Army would have probably prefered to stay at steady state readiness on the existing budget).

The military should not be paying so much council tax in any case, as many services such as nurseries & social clubs are proved on military bases and are wholy or partly paid for out of MOD funds anyway.

When we fight wars, we should draw a line under the peacetime budget, and any additional costs must come out of a war chest or reserve simple as that.

Why just Afghanistan & Iraq?  It’s just as sh*t being away from your family for 6 months in Sierra Leone, or Kosovo, or the Falklands as it is in Afghanistan. 80-90% of troops are in support roles and are not directly involved in fighting operations, so camp Bastion is no different for a chef than anywhere else?  It’s not WHERE your serving that really matters, it’s the fact that intervals between tours are getting shorter regardless of where in the world they are.

Theo Spark - Satyrist (his words not mine) has come up with his manifesto (See here!).  Blimey, it’s close to my own!!  I would add that although he’s not put costs to his MOD increases, I would like to see us put spending back closer to the 4%GDP that the USA spends rather than the 2% we spend.  We are, after all, fighting the same wars.  Oh, and if you’re looking for Britain (to quote The Pub Landlord). It’s in the middle, at the top, where it’s always been!!