I was doing my regular web searches and ran across this article. To say that I was shocked is an understatement. This is via the Vancouver Sun. Read the whole thing....its sad and if true, then our friends across the pond have some serious troubles that I never began to fathom.
I look forward to hearing British readers weigh in on this one. I just don't know.
Britain's constant boast that it punches above its weight internationally rings more hollow by the day. The defence ministry is eviscerating the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force and making deep cuts to the army, too. There have been sweeping redundancies across all three services, the sudden retirement of the fleet of Harrier jump jets, the premature retirement of the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and the likely immediate sale to raise cash of one of two carriers now being built. Even after the current round of Draconian cuts, it is difficult to see how Britain can sustain the force that will remain, let alone underwrite plans for a new generation of nuclear submarines, new frigates and the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.I don't know if his critique of the Ministry of Defense is adequate. As a matter of fact, at least a couple of procurement issues can be traced back to 'urgent requests' that were rubber stamped without proper vetting. What I mean by that is this...it appears that the UK tried its best to make sure that its troops were properly equipped--no matter what the costs.
That Britain can no longer even pretend to be a major global player was already obvious to its troops and allies in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Well-trained, brave soldiers from fabled regiments went into battle under-equipped because the British treasury no longer has enough money to pay for the kit required for expeditionary escapades. While, for example, Ottawa gave Canadian troops in Kandahar whatever they urgently required, from boots to state-of-the art command posts, helicopters and safer armoured vehicles, British troops often have had to make do with gear that sometimes looked as if it had seen service against Rommel's Afrika Korps - and in a few cases, may have actually been used in that war.
Much has been made lately of Britain's decision to opt out of a new European financial treaty that tried to rescue the continental economies because the other EU states refused to grant London's financial institutions special status. Britons of ``the wogs start at Calais'' school celebrated Prime Minister David Cameron's intransigence as they did earlier British decisions to keep the pound instead of the euro and to maintain a totally separate set of immigration and customs checks than their neighbours across the English Channel. The almost universal European response to Downing Street's latest act of isolationism was to say ``good riddance.''
I look forward to hearing British readers weigh in on this one. I just don't know.
I'll take this one Sol, i'm seething after reading this.
ReplyDeleteHe makes it sounds like the Canadians are doing better than the UK in defence. We are having to cut back and yes, it has gone too far, but we still have a whole lot more to offer than Canada does to begin with.
He then talks about the rest of Europe like they are somehow better as well. Do we need to have a little look at the French or German approaches to Afghan, or the other EU nations? They have been doing SOOOO much better, we should just give up and listen to them.
He really take sit up a notch at the end though. Britain's policies towards immigration and the Euro have both been shown to be massively useful, especially now as we sit across the channel watching the Euro fail and Ms Merkel deciding policy for every nation in the Euro.
And like it or not but the UK is reliant on the city of London, it is the largest financial city on the planet and has made a lot of money for the UK. The French and Germans have always hated it and have constantly tried to undermine and destroy it for their own national interests as they want that position in the world. Why should we let them use the EU to destroy it?
I'd respond more thoroughly but this article really pissed me off.
thanks for the response. i've had some discussions with you and others and although i REALLY believe the force cuts have gone WAAAY too deep it was the other parts of the article that really had my head spinning.
ReplyDeletesomehow, someway the Brits always get it done militarily and the shots about the British performance in the war is way off but it was the other issues (repeating myself i know) that had me dazed and confused.
i look forward to hearing more.
Like Grim901 I am pissed off with this turd of a journo more than I can say.
ReplyDeletelet's get some of the military errors out of the way. Although the 2010 defence review mentioned the possibility of mothballing or selling the second carrier, all subsequent parliamentary statements have confirmed that the preferred option and planning assumption is that it will be rotated with the other vessel to ensure continuous availability. All seven Astute SSN's will be built and the long lead items for the reactors of the 'Successor' SSBN's have been ordered, Type 26 Global Combat Ship is at the design stage and three F35's will be delivered this year.
Where this guy really leaves the fucking planet is talking about the army. As a soldier in the British Army of the 1980's I did not see any kit that dated back to El Alamein so I'm damn sure there ain't any now. Canada is to be congratulated on providing a force instantly equipped with all required to fight in Afghanistan from day one! What a pile of horseshit, Canada's soldiers did a superb job but look at any army engaged in the war on terror and the equipment transformation over the last decade is astonishing. I have friends still in the army and they can't praise their kit highly enough. It is also worth noting that Canada's contribution peaked at 2000 (in Afghanistan), a fifth of the UK's 10 000 and we are still there. That, though, should not be surprising as our defence budget is three times the size of Canada's.
As for his other comments, I seriously wonder if he has ever been here. Yes, British inner cities can have some poor housing and crime can be a problem in some areas - but is he seriously suggesting none of these things happen in his northern paradise? As for riots, all I'll say is Vancouver and ice hockey! Our crime rate is about the same as those noted hell-holes Denmark and Holland, not that you'd guess it from his article, context is everything.
As for the EU comments, he clearly hasn't a clue, The City of London is one of the world's foremost financial centres (vying with New York for top spot). The EU's latest wheeze was to tax financial transactions to bail out their idiot currency experiment - 80% of that tax Europe wide would have come from London, and gone to a currency of which we are not even a part. Oh, and Cameron's move was very popular here, guess I must think that 'wogs start at Calais'. It is also worth mentioning that the UK's manufacturing sector is greater than its financial one at around 12% of GDP (roughly the same as the USA). No, you can't buy a British TV or games console but if you catch a plane there is a good chance that it will have Rolls Royce engines. If this dick uses a mobile phone it is very likely that the chip in it was developed by ARM Holdings of Cambridge. British industry now specialises in high-end component manufacture, less visible but still essential.
Dick head also mentions schools, all I'll say on this is that three of the world's top-ten universities are British, with Cambridge ranked number one...sorry Canada you just ain't there education wise.
Don't think I'm down on Canada, I'm down on this ill informed cunt who gets his views from the fucking Daily fucking Mail. This hurts all the more because it is coming from another Anglophone nation. Anyway Sol, if you are ever over here join me for a beer and I'll show you what a great place it is. Problem free? No, but nowhere is and I love it.
hey r.crichton7! i absolutely love your comment and i'm sure Grim agrees with you too. all i can say is wow. your writing is brilliant. oh and i hope you aren't making the offer in jest. London is on my bucket list of places to visit!
ReplyDeleteSol, I never joke about beer!
ReplyDeleteMate, you said everything I aimed to in a much more eloquent manner, well done. Just to testify on the kit issue, some reserve units are still working with kit that came in just after the Falklands (Clansman radios etc) and that's complaint worthy, the standard of kit that goes into theatre now is top notch. Thinkdefence posted the list of kit you get in the black bag nowadays on his site a while back. I was gagging to get at some of it.
ReplyDeleteIt may seem like the UK comes in a little under-prepared sometimes at the start of a fight, but we sort it in the end. Until then its trained into every British soldier to make do with what you have, that's why we always get the job done.
Sol, London is great, but it doesn't sum up the UK. Make sure if you ever do get over to this side of the pond you see a little more of the UK too. I'd be happy to give suggestions. Any questions on the UK always welcome, part of the reason I read this blog is to see how the UK comes across to others.