Is £38bn Defence Deficit Affecting Aircraft Carrier Requirement and Capability?

HMS Ark Royal is verily missed

It will not have gone unnoticed that during the past few days much has been written regarding the National Audit Office (NAO) and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) reports
and the mistakes that – if one believes all that is said – have been made by the Government as far as the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) decision to scrap HMS Ark Royal and the building of the two Queen Elizabeth aircraft carriers is concerned.

First of all let there be no doubt that the Government ‘got it badly wrong’ and left itself wide open to criticism for not fully appreciating that aircraft carriers are a necessary evil and can project air power where needed. The recent Libyan operation would have been more cost effective had Ark Royal still been in service with her highly capable Harriers than deploying Apache and Sea Kings from HMS Ocean and flying unnecessarily long and expensive sorties on Tornado, Typhoon, Sentinel and VC10 tanker aircraft from Italy, Cyprus and RAF Marham in Norfolk!. The Government are truly guilty of looking for short term financial gains without looking at the long term requirement and not realising that future defence needs will probably not be dictated by Westminster!


The Public Accounts Committee, chaired by the Labour MP, the Right Honourable Margaret Hodge MP, has accused the MoD of ‘focusing on short-term affordability in drawing up options for SDSR to cover a £38 billion black hole in its budget’ and when referring to the changes being made to the new aircraft carrier programme Mrs Hodge said:


“Once again, a major MOD project will be completed much later, cost much more and offer less military capability than originally planned.


“Changes to the aircraft carriers and the aircraft flying from them in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review have changed the risks and costs involved in ways that are not fully understood. Rather than two carriers, available from 2016 and 2018, at a cost of £3.65bn, we will now spend more than £6bn, get one operational carrier and have no aircraft carrier capability until 2020 – almost a decade. The second carrier will be mothballed, while the operational carrier will be available at sea for only 150 to 200 days a year.


“On top of that, the technology to enable the new aircraft to fly from the carrier is untested. The newly constructed ship will have to undergo immediate modification and the costs of this will not be known until December 2012.


“In preparing options, the Department concentrated on short-term affordability and the need to make cash savings, and did not focus strongly on long-term value for money. While the Department believes the decision will save £3.4 billion, only £600 million of this constitutes cash savings, with the other 80 per cent simply deferred costs.


“It is of deep concern that our ability to hold the Department to account was hampered by the Cabinet Office’s decision to withhold from the NAO all the information it requested to make a judgement on value for money. We welcome the subsequent decision by the Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary to make the papers available, following pressure from this Committee and others."


With regard to the NAO and Public Accounts Committee reports it has been said that media sources had reported ‘on inaccurate claims that the full Carrier Strike capability would not be achieved until 2030’. MoD sources said this was not true and answered that ‘the more capable Carrier variant of the Joint Strike Fighter fast jet will begin operating from our aircraft carrier from 2020, with six jets available for operation’ going on to state that ‘by 2023 this number will increase to 12 UK jets on-board and we will be able to work with our allies to increase that number because of the interoperability that the Carrier variant Joint Strike Fighter allows’.


In reply to both the NAO and Public Accounts Committee reports the Secretary of State for Defence, Philip Hammond, said:


"We are tackling the inherited black hole in the Defence Budget and, earlier this month the National Audit Office [NAO] rightly recognised the work that this Government is undertaking to bring the Department's finances back into balance.


"When this Government came into power, the Queen Elizabeth Class carriers were already £1.6bn over budget. As part of an overall package of measures taken in the Strategic Defence and Security Review we have reduced overall spending on the Carrier Strike Programme by £4.4bn over the next ten years.


"The NAO and the Public Accounts Committee have both acknowledged that our decision to build a second aircraft carrier makes financial sense. Converting one of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers to operate the more capable Carrier variant of the Joint Strike Fighter fast jet from 2020 will maximise our military capability and enhance interoperability with our allies.


"Operating the more cost effective Carrier variant fast jet will, in the long term, offset the conversion costs and provide us with aircraft that have a longer range and carry a greater payload. Until our new Carrier capability comes into service, we can utilise our extensive basing and over flight rights to project decisive air power, as we showed during the Libya campaign”.


When examining the whole aircraft carrier issue it is worth remembering that had there been more control over defence spending in the past there would probably be no £38bn budget deficit and that had that been the case the swingeing cuts made to defence under SDSR may well not have been necessary. This leads us to suppose that the Royal Navy would still be capable of providing the all-important amphibious air wing that the current Government have deprived the country of leading to a lower level of national security and power projection – which is only one part of the whole erosion of defence equation!


Photo © Mike Cattell, Flickr

Benefits of Joining the British Armed Forces: Why Would You?

In a nutshell... why on earth would you join the Armed Forces? It's rubbish pay, and you could get killed.

Not only that, you're a bit left wing and believe in a protest against imperialism (you might even be one of those nutters from Muslims Against Royal Familes or what nonsense they are called) and speaking out for the British common man, therefore you don't want to join the UK Armed Forces. You could be a disaffected former member of the Or you might not believe in war at all despite the UK Armed Forces being primarily an expeditionary defence force for at least the past 250 years. It hasn't embarked upon any sort of conquest for centuries (you might argue Empire existed BUT that was started by trading companies NOT the Armed Forces).

Whatever your objections, and they are many, they'd be against everything you believed in.

Besides, you never voted for the ConDem government nor even deputy Nick Clegg nor even the PM David Cameron. So why should you join?

Well, to put it into perspective - your oath of alligence is to the Head of state, in this case the Queen and your Regiment not to the government. Utter tosh you might say as the British head of state is powerless. The Commons runs things. True.

But none can deny that indeed you do swear your Oath of Allegiance to the Squadron or regiment, most of whom are your fellow Britons; and often in the case of the Army people from the same town or county. These are the good folk that you back and protect in a conflict. Most of which are common men and women. The heart of industry of this country.

Secondly - the money is not THAT poor. It's lower yes initially but not in the long term. Look for an equivalent job as a civilian that has the benefits of the military equivalent and pound to a penny you actually WON'T find one.

A Chef on a cruise ship won't earn £16k PA when they start but one on a Royal Navy ship will - but that's just one insignificant example.

The basic benefits included in most armed forces jobs are:

1. Free medical and dental care

2. Good rent for often decent accomodation

3. Job security which is poor in the private sector. Albeit until 2011 the public sector was safe but ride out this financial storm and things should be right again by 2013.

4. 6 weeks paid holidays plus bank holidays. You'll never find this in a civilian company (maybe if you work in a highly paid financial job in the city or are a banker however).

5. Despite the public sector cuts, Armed Forces still has of the best pension plans on the market.

But be realistic

The UK's Armed Forces are one of the largest in the world in terms of power projection and deployed in a number of serious armed conflicts throughout the globe. It's likely that you might find yourself in one of these conflicts.

Which you may not take to as much as the next person...

Am I Eligible to Join the British Military?

Ever wonder what the different jobs are within the Armed Forces, their specific requirements, and average salaries? We have put together career profiles on several of the most sought after positions, including: Eligibility Basics, Reasons to Join, Civilian Comparisons, Getting into a Service Academy, Benefits Overview, and British Armed Forces Missions.


Recommended resources: Careers Advice, Test Tips, Fitness requirements

10 Steps to Joining the Force

Get the basics on the different types of naval and military careers, how to best prepare yourself, what to study, who to talk to and when to talk to them. Learn how to get your foot in the door and why you need to get fit. Access the guide...


Recommended resources: Careers Advice, Test Tips, Fitness requirements

HMForces Benefits, Advice and Support Section

Here, in one handy section, is all the information you ever wanted to know about the money related benefits for working as a member of the Armed Forces.

If there is something missing that you want to know, drop us an email at: notes@ hmforces.co.uk and we’ll get working on finding the answer for you.

This certainly doesn’t trip off the tongue but it is a report presented to Parliament in July 2008 by the Secretary of State for Defence and the Minister of State for the Armed Forces. It lists a range of proposals that the government is planning to introduce in the near future. However, there are is a wide range of time scales for the introduction of the measures so these are summarised in the Nation’s Commitment section at the end.

Here're all the sections - have a browse through them and if you don't find what you're looking for check our forum posts as someone before you might have posted a specific question and got an answer from someone. Otherwise drop us an email at notes@ hmforces.co.uk and we'll see if we can help.

British & Military Cultural Events

The British Armed Forces has a long tradition of custom, pagentry, and history. Like it or not, the naval and military services are bound up in the cultural life of the United Kingdom; its languages, architecture, religion, philosophical views, art, and music.

British Armed Forces Allowances

There are a wide variety of allowances to make up for expenses that service personnel may have to pay out in the course of their duties.

British Armed Forces Deployment

You knew this day might come when you first joined the Armed Forces. It's time to ship out, and serve the interests of your country. There's a lot of work to be done, not the least of which is getting your (and your family's) affairs in order.

British Armed Forces Reservists Deployment

Being a Reservist and balancing a civilian job, family obligations, and military duties is difficult enough. It only gets more difficult if you're called up to active duty.

British Armed Forces Pay Rates

The pay for the different services is broadly similar, but they are affected by a number of factors such as length of service, the particular trade or specialisation you perform and the level of responsibility.

British Armed Forces Pension

The pension scheme is one of the benefits of Armed Forces as you do not make any direct contributions towards it and your benefits are calculated from your final pensionable pay. There are two pension schemes for the Armed Forces depending on whether you joined before or after 6th April 2005.

Charities & Fund Raising

There was a time when the members of HM forces were not particularly recognised, it could be argued, for the duties performed in dangerous circumstances abroad. This has of course changed. Perhaps because of the controversy surrounding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan our Armed Forces became a prominent fixture in the media world, and all our worlds.

Family Issues in the Forces

A member is experiencing her first deployment and she feels a little lost. She asks some good questions, but one of them really caught my eye and made me think: When does the pain of deployment stop?

Finding a Job

In everyday life thousands of adults have difficulties focusing on the job. While more than 4 percent of working adults are diagnosed with ADHD, vast numbers of undiagnosed adults struggle with being successful in the workplace.

Golden Hellos & Pay Incentives

There are a number of different bonuses available for specific roles within the Armed Forces. These are due to simple supply and demand issues, the MoD have to fill key roles and if there are not sufficient numbers coming into the Service interested in those roles they are forced to offer extra incentives.

Military Discounts

There is so much to do ... and easy to have fun with friends and family. Enjoy your time!

Personal Finance

Dealing with Debt can be a difficult and lonely experience. However, there is always help and support at hand and it need not be a lonely experience. You can be sure that you are not alone in this, if you're facing debt or bankruptcy for example, there are many other people and familes facing the prospect of rising debt.

Royal Air Force (RAF)

The first RAF squadron (then as the RFC – Royal Flying Corps) was formed in 1912 and it upgraded to aircraft in 1914. The RAF is the oldest independant air force in the world with a long proud history, serving in all the major conflicts that took place during the 20th century, and continuing to do so in the 21st.

Now the RAF provide air support for a wide range of uses, both at war and in peace time. During the Cold War the RAF was an integral part of Britain’s nuclear deterrant.

British Army

The British Army has a long and distinguished history, not to mention a very complicated hierarchy for the Regiments and Corps. This section summarises the history and the functions of the different aspects of the modern British Army.

Poll: Do you think national service should be brought back to solve some of Britain’s problems?

The youth of today have too many rights and these should be taken away from them after all they're children and should not make their own choices until they can prove they're adults. Service will sort the wheat from the chaff.

A lot has been said about this already however, there hasn't been a poll so we can now vote on the issue and not see if we can get some results that would make someone in Westminster site up and listen.

"hi every one im only 14 and live in newquay and i think it a good idea it will stop all the under aged alcoholics in the uk today so bring it back to this proud country of ours".

Royal Navy

Royal Marines

Army

RAF


Bring Back National Service

HMForces.co.uk - What Does it Offer You?

It's a new online space designed exclusively for the UK military and naval community: The British Army, The Royal Navy, The Royal Marines and The Royal Air Force, to connect and develop their careers.

However, if you're also civilian and have a member of your family in the armed forces, are a spouse or a friend or have a general interest, then there's lots of info available for you too.

So, What’s The Score?

Do you need advice on landing a great civilian job once you leave the Forces? Curious if you’re claiming all the benefits you’re entitled to receive?

Or, just want to banter about which Service really works the hardest? Or want to taste the nostalgia of the old days?

This site isn't just about the serving folk but the ones who have already served in whatever service. In addition, if you're civilian you can find a lot of advice and jokes about the life that you're comtemplating joining - and it is a different life make no mistake. Check out all the best and most up to date joining instructions for the Armed Forces.

AND IF THAT'S NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU check out the COMPETITIONS, QUIZZES and MIND GAMES, and a MILITARY BOOK SHOP

for your intellectual side (but if you can't be bothered with your intellectual side there's some daft games in the FORUMS too), and a GEAR section where you can review the latest military equipment available.

However, since the site will always be a work in progress and as it is entirely about and for members of the Armed Forces – your feedback is crucial.

Please drop us a line if you have an idea for a new feature, want us to investigate something, or even if you’ve found a broken link.

Thanks!

Stewart Thompson

General Manager

Armed Forces Allowances Update

The Armed Forces (Navy, Marines, Army, Air Force) do give a number of allowances (despite what you hear about Armed Forces cuts etc).

There are specific lead allowances for service personnel assigned to seagoing units to compensate for the extra time spent away from home; Travel expenses can usually be claimed for duty journeys from a normal place of work for all the services; there is the Local Overseas Allowance (LOA) – Contributes to the additional costs of day-to-day living in an overseas county; Special Messing Allowance (SMA), and Overseas Furniture Provision Scheme (OFPS). These are only a few of them that are actually available.

There are many more allowances available and you'll find them here in our British Armed Forces Allowances section. Here's a few more:

General Allowances for Service Personnel

Travel Expenses In The Armed Forces
Travel and Subsistence when Living Overseas

Child Related Benefits In the Armed Forces

The links above take you to sections where you'll find articles explaining the different types of allowances open to you. However, in the previous 12 months there have been many changes.

This article describes some of those changes that directly affect the Armed Forces and their families.

As part of a comprehensive spending review, a direct consequence of 2010's Strategic Defence and Security Review, the changes all began end of 2010. It was announced that more than £250 million would be stripped from the armed forces' £880m allowances budget ordered by the Treasury.

Needless to say, the first to go, deemed too extraneous were perks for senior officers, such as payment for chefs and cleaners, drivers or gardeners.

Military personnel of all ranks have been asked to make personal financial contributions to allowances such as those which cover travelling from home to work.

Payments to cover travel to sports events and training facilities are also considered to be vulnerable to culling. Military travel allowances last year cost the government £54 million.

Defence chiefs accepted the cuts with regret but also claimed it could 'seriously damage troop morale'.

Some senior defence sources have criticised the move but others have welcomed it - our opinion is that the Armed Forces cannot be compared to MP's claiming expenses. However, cuts have to be made, and naturally expenses and perks are always the fist to be culled. This is replicated right across the private sector too. In fact some within the Armed Forces have claimed many officers are 'living beyond their means' and that the cuts will prevent fraudulent claims.

One issue however that has thrown up opposition is the examination and possible culling of the Continuity of Education Allowance, which helps pay for the private school fees. CEA costs the taxpayer £180m a year and is claimed by 5,500 service families.

As well as allowances, all forms of the armed forces specialist pay – which makes up a significant proportion of the salaries of pilots, comms crew, divers, bomb disposal experts, submariners and members of the special forces – is also to be examined and it looks like there will be inevitable cuts to these looking towards 2012. However, in our view the cuts cannot be too severe for specialist pay, as part of the remuneration for taking on extra duty and skills is the specialist pay rate in the first place. Take too much of that away and how can recruiters attract candidates into the specialist trades?

Qualified aeroplane and helicopter pilots, as well as specialist aircrew, can earn up to an extra £40 a day on top of their salaries even if their job does not involve flying.

Politicians argue that Pilots for example should only be paid the extra specialist pay when they are flying.

Under the current allowances scheme pilots are still paid the full "flying pay" for three years once they have left a "flying job". SDSR considers this too 'generous', the extra pay is worth millions of pounds to pilots who do not fly and submariners who no longer serve at sea. George Osbourne described this as 'staggering'.

Local Overseas Allowance, is paid to troops serving abroad where the cost of living is more expensive than the UK, will also be reduced (but the number of places that are more expensive than the UK are disappearing). In 2009/10 LOA cost the MoD £224m.

---------

When dealing with expenses you must pay up front and then claim back what is owed by providing a valid receipt. Otherwise, if you can't provide the receipt you'll get nothing.

There are still many good allowances available to the Armed Forces but in these unsettling economic times those perks are slowly disappearing. However, some essential perks will stay but don't let all this put you off, the Armed Forces still offers what many jobs in the private sector cannot.

War in Afghanistan: Comment

Following the tragic death of yet another young soldier in Afghanistan, the message to the Government must be what? To give up the apparently utterly futile conflict in Afghanistan and bring all British forces back home as quickly as possible? Or to dig ourselves in for yet another few more years before we pull out? After all we commited ourselves to aiding the Afghan people by removing terrorists (and inadvertently the Taliban) and traditionally, we are a stubborn lot, we like to see things through.

I wasn't born until the 1970's but as far as I know, during the previous 80 years the only time we've ever retreated with our pride damaged was at Dunkirk and during Suez. Every other conflict we've been involved in we've been a thorn in the side of the opposition.


Is that enough to remain? To maintain our prestige and in addition, more significantly, to preserve the memory of the fallen can only but strengthen our resolve to see this conflict to the bitter end. And despite the recent deaths, it is quickly coming to and end. The Taliban are in disarray themselves and have split several ways into rival factions. But whose propaganda can we believe?

Some would argue however, that this is a war which should never have been begun. Almost 400 British lives have been lost, and many more times that number have been injured and maimed. Afghanistan is basically still a medieval tribal country, with regions dominated by local warlords and an economy almost entirely based on opium. What possibility is there of forcing it to become a western-style democracy and establishing human rights as we understand them in the west?

The original reason for invading 10 years ago was to capture Osama bin Laden and destroy his terrorist organisation, Al Qaeda. Hasn't this been done? Bin Laden is now dead and his international terrorist group is nominally based in Pakistan, Sudan, and Somalia.

Frank Roberts - HMForces.co.uk

The British Armed Forces has a long tradition of custom, pagentry, and history.

Trooping the Colour

Like it or not, the naval and military services are bound up in the cultural life of the United Kingdom; its languages, architecture, religion, philosophical views, art, and music.

Whether you are loyalist or republican, that cultural life is part of this Island’s great cultural heritage which you are a part of, surrounded by and invited to join, irrespective of your background – something the British (whether that’s Irish, Welsh, Scottish or English) have always been reticent and moderate in talking about – you should have and will have chances to enjoy all that the military has to offer. If you’re a spouse of a service member, your child or friend, or sibling may be serving, get involved, don’t miss the opportunity to have some great fun.

Even if you’re not part of the forces or a friend is serving, you can be a part of it too, as the majority of people who enjoy these event are not military.

Not only is our cultural heritage important per se (Why? Well it is a part of your identity and moral duty to learn and enjoy these events), it also gives you and your family great opportunities to celebrate events together, create ideas for get-togethers and parties at home and in your local community – specially if you live on the patch. It’s a great way to meet and make new friends, for you and your children.

We’re going to list the events for you in chronological order starting with January but focusing on the lesser know events and days rather than festivals like Easter. On that note, movable feasts change dates year on year (such as Easter) never falling on the same date but rather on the same day. In addition this is a list of British events, not celebrating exclusivity.

Furthermore, not all events are Bank Holidays (there’re only 8 official Bank Holidays while some years have extra such as a Royal Wedding or holidays in lieu if Christmas or New Year fall on a weekend) but that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate something or take it as an excuse to have a party! However, some Regiments have holidays that are not enjoyed by the Public such as the Queen’s Official Birthday. So if you want more holidays get involved with the Armed Forces!

Just Click on a link below to take you to a page which will show you all the events for that month.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Resettlement Or Not? Jobs Available

If you're starting resettlement or about to end it and are looking for a job, don't forget our job boards are linked direct to Monster.co.uk - one of the UK's largest recruitment agencies.

We're advertising literally 100's of jobs for former Armed Forces and those about to leave the Armed Forces.

We've vacancies for many professions and jobs:

Engineers

Marine Engineers

Security Guards

Security Consultants

Electricians

Mechanics

Technicians

Drivers

Information Technicians

Project Managers

Retail Managers

Accountants

and many more...

Search our jobs boards today!!

Click on the link to access the jobs online.

Thanks and good luck.

HMForces.co.uk

A Trained Soldier with a Tank Regiment

After phase one training you move on to your specialist training which is called phase two. For me my phase two was very quick as I got fast tracked to my regiment to be a gunner.

I did however spend two weeks at ATR Bovvington learning how to drive a car and I did some advanced signals before I got called to my regiment.

I had been sent to my regiment in October 2000 in Fallingbostel Germany to learn to be a Challenger 2 Gunner - When I got there everyone was in Kosovo and there was only a rear party left behind. I started my training a few days after arriving. I learned how to be a gunner and how to operate the tank itself, I prefered being a gunner and spent a lot of my time in the simulator which is a better version of a playstation. The simulator runs different battle programs and different types of failures that you may come across from time to time. These range from your coax machine gun jamming to misfired rounds etc. I found it all very interesting but couldn’t wait to get on the ranges and experience the fire power for myself. Unluckily I would have to wait a few months for this to happen.

After completion of my training I didn’t have much to do - With the regiment being in Kosovo all I had were guard duties which were very boring and the odd PT lesson. An officer asked me if I wanted to go skiing and try out for the regimental ski team, I said I was an avid skier so snapped up the offer. What I didn’t realise was that he was talking about cross-country skiing and that is how I got roped into that! I had been apart from my regiment for seven months and was in the ski team so no one in my regiment knew who I was - They came back from Kosovo when I went skiing. I thought it was quite funny.








Eventually things changed when I got back from the skiing course and settled into regiment life more with the lads and that. This is when I got my opportunity to fire my tank on the ranges. It was also my first time inside a tank. So as you can imagine I was nervous and my commander was an absolute stress freak which didn’t help me. By the time we actually got to the ranges I was a nervous wreck because the commander had been shouting at me etc etc all the way there. So on my first range period I missed almost every shot because I was too scared to fire at a target. I had been kicked and punched in the back of the head and overall had one of the worst scores ever seen on a range period with a tank.

After this range period and my stressy commander I was ready to give up on my dream of being a soldier and no longer wanted to serve in the army. As it turned out the Commander got sacked and I ended up with a newly promoted sergeant sitting behind me. What a difference this man made - He was calm and talked to me on the ranges and told me not to worry. So when I went out on the ranges again I transformed from pathetic to pretty good. Then soon after, with this sergeant as guidance I became one of the best gunners to have graced a challenger 2 in my regiment. I scored a 6 distinction (highest score possible) and also a 100% hit rate every time I went to the ranges.

Join the hot Tank debate: Challenger vs Abrams

I settled into regimental life really well after this incident and started feeling good about myself. I also started getting to know everyone in my squadron then everyone else. It’s amazing how quickly you remember the names of 400 people. I then also met the Queen a few times and managed a few parades for her too, which was a laugh and something of an achievement.


Miky Kelly was a sufferer of PTSD but sadly died in May 2010.

United Kingdom Hoping For Brighter Future For All After Independence

Vessels such as HMS Ark Royal are a thing of the past

Scotland choosing independence is likened to Scotland leaving the UK (“Swinney takes flak over Navy shipbuilding claim”, The Herald, June 8).

As the United Kingdom is made up of only two Kingdoms, Scotland and England, plus a Province and a Principality (Northern Ireland and Wales), surely it is self-evident that on Scotland’s departure, there will be no UK, or United Kingdom of Great Britain. Instead there will be the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland.

Almost certainly the Principality and Province will have to be consulted on their relationship with the two Kingdoms and with each other. It is to be hoped that, for them too, the future could be brighter than the past.

Malcolm Black
Oban, Argyll.

To see more click here... 

Campaign: Wear Your Poppy With Pride

By Harriet Phipps

They gave for you. Please sign for them. 
 
I would like your help & support, can you please pass this message on to all your colleagues, family’s, friends and any other contacts that could help me with my campaign.

Subject for debate – Should employees be allowed to wear a Poppy our National Symbol of Remembrance at work or not!


My name is Harriet and I’m 18 years old, back in November I changed the Employment Policy of an American clothing company because I was told I couldn’t wear my Poppy whilst at work. I am now on a mission to lobby the Government to look into this matter, so this embarrassing situation doesn’t happen to others in the future.

Please take a moment to look at my website and my petition, I do hope I can rely on your help & support as I need a 100,000 signatures or more to help make this petition work and be eligible for a debate in Parliament.

BBC Midlands Today covered my story on Monday 7th March, you can now watch it on my Website..
My campaign / petition and web site is now in full swing, the online petition is currently standing at 8,787 and I have over 1,000 signatures on my manual petition, a long way to go yet but I intend to hand deliver my petition to No. 10 personally.

Please help me by spreading the word as this is such an important and most sensitive issue to be addressed, don’t leave it to others please sign it today.

SDSR - shame or relevant?

Whitehall

With the Strategic Defence and Security Review published in the autumn of 2010 speculation about the eventual outcome gathered pace and although denials are regularly issued by both politicians and the MoD it is a fact of life that we live in a society where secrets are hard to keep and as such we must expect the unexpected because politicians are thinking the unthinkable.

It is widely accepted that defence is a costly business and put simply is a bit like the insurance policy you hope you are never going to need. If you want your insurance policy to provide cover against all risks you accept the cost of a higher premium but on the other hand paying a lower premium will doubtless give you cause for concern and, unfortunately, this will be the end result of the SDSR if what we are hearing, seeing and reading becomes a reality.

It is an unfortunate fact of life that politicians are those who make everyday decisions about our lives, in the main without consultation, and that this is also true as far as the defence of the United Kingdom and our overseas commitments are concerned. Nowadays politicians have very little experience of the inherent dangers of soldiering because they have no experience of the profession – which is what it is.

Northern Ireland. Tough decisions have to be made but we need reconciliation

No one wants to see empty parks again

No one's denying the IRA were murderers and murdered many innocent people including many young soldiers who were victims of terrorism. But the Good Friday agreement happened, it was accepted. And we must all accept it unless we become like the current dissidents that cannot find it in themselves to accept peace. Yes, many killers were freed under that agreement but something had to be done.

It cannot also be denied that Northern Ireland has seen a period of peace and prosperity not had since before partition in 1922. And now who would have thought that in 2011 Queen Elizabeth would visit Croke Park and make a speech about past errors. No apologies of course, she doesn't do apologies but an admission that perhaps things should have been done differently. We all make mistakes, including the Irish - it is often forgotton that many within Ireland, Irish people did not want independance and the ensuing conflict was not entirely the fault of the English - themselves guilty of mistakes.
The important thing is reconciliation, now and for our children. And to find the idiot dissidents threatening to wage war on Ulster and the mainland for things they have no concept of and what 99% of people want in the British Isles: Peace.

British Islamists: Should we tolerate the intolerant or support the station protest?

Comedy banners

Don't these idiots realise we fought 2 World Wars and countless other conflicts in order to perserve our identity and freedom? That we'll not give it up easily? They are entirely ignorant of the British psyche and its cultural history. But one thing they ARE good at is protesting at train stations. They're actually doing us all a favour.

The latest one is moaning about their future King and Prince Harry serving in the military - but of course they serve. That's what our Royals do! Didn't they know? But they're a bit cheeky because involving the Royals they draw immediate attention to their Train station protest.

Whatever your opinions of Empire and war, the United Kingdom has traditionally been a non-agressor and has in fact always defended its position with vigour and passion, whether against Germany, Japan, France, or Argentina et al. It just takes the British awhile to realise they're under threat. [Invaders were third time lucky, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Normans; and after 1066 every attempt has failed]. So if a few character flawed, attention deficit disorder individuals in the name of Islam think they can defeat a naturally very proud country that, let's face it, has not had a battering since 1066, they must be completely potty, ignorant and down right incompetant (like those Pakistanis that didn't know Bin Laden was living next door to their equivalent of Sandhurst).

At least they raised issue of ugly train station

So the next time you have a moment check out their website and just drop your opinion that you're not sure about their new type of comedy. Or are they actually protesting against Britain's ugly train stations? Well they ARE actually ugly so someone has to protest (they always arrive at stations too, coincidence?) - Waterloo is alright, and the new station at Stratford is quite nice. It might take a while to get used to but we will. The British have a wicked sense of humour.

So support them in their Train Station protest - someone's got to do it.

Benefits of Joining the British Armed Forces: Why Would You?

In a nutshell... why on earth would you join the Armed Forces? It's rubbish pay, and you could get killed.

Not only that, you're a bit left wing and believe in a protest against imperialism (you might even be one of those nutters from Muslims Against Royal Familes or whatever nonsense they are called) and speaking out for the British common man, therefore you don't want to join the UK Armed Forces. You could be a disaffected former member of the Or you might not believe in war at all despite the UK Armed Forces being primarily an expeditionary defence force for at least the past 250 years. It hasn't embarked upon any sort of conquest for centuries (you might argue Empire existed BUT that was started by trading companies NOT the Armed Forces).

Whatever your objections, and they are many, they'd be against everything you believed in.

Besides, you never voted for the ConDem government nor even deputy Nick Clegg nor even the PM David Cameron. So why should you join?

Well, to put it into perspective - your oath of alligence is to the Head of state, in this case the Queen and your Regiment not to the government. Utter tosh you might say as the British head of state is powerless. The Commons runs things. True.

But none can deny that indeed you do swear your Oath of Allegiance to the Squadron or regiment, most of whom are your fellow Britons; and often in the case of the Army people from the same town or county. These are the good folk that you back and protect in a conflict. Most of which are common men and women. The heart of industry of this country.

Secondly - the money is not THAT poor. It's lower yes initially but not in the long term. Look for an equivalent job as a civilian that has the benefits of the military equivalent and pound to a penny you actually WON'T find one.
A Chef on a cruise ship won't earn £16k PA when they start but one on a Royal Navy ship will - but that's just one insignificant example.

The basic benefits included in most armed forces jobs are:

1. Free medical and dental care

2. Good rent for often decent accomodation

3. Job security which is poor in the private sector. Albeit until 2011 the public sector was safe but ride out this financial storm and things should be right again by 2013.

4. 6 weeks paid holidays plus bank holidays. You'll never find this in a civilian company (maybe if you work in a highly paid financial job in the city or are a banker however).

5. Despite the public sector cuts, Armed Forces still has of the best pension plans on the market.

But be realistic

The UK's Armed Forces are one of the largest in the world in terms of power projection. Deployed in a number of serious armed conflicts throughout the globe, it's likely that you might find yourself in one of these conflicts.

Which you may not take to as much as the next person...

Harry Will eventually go back to Afghanistan

Prince Harry has been promoted to captain after completing five years’ service as an officer in the British Army. 

Harry's serving in the AAC and has voiced his desire of returning to Afghanistan. No doubt when he does, none of us will know about it but for how long the Royal family can keep it quiet is unknown. Not for long one would imagine. As soon as Harry disappears off the media radar people will begin wondering "well well well, where is he then?". Maybe a 2-3 months stint will do him rather than the normal 4-6 months?

Mad Mullahs will ask Harry to be killed

Despite all that, he definately deserves to go. It's what he wants, and regardless of the danger that he'll be a high profile target. After all what's the point of the state spending all that money training him up for nothing, which he has admitted himself - "I’d just be taking up a spare place for somebody else if they didn’t have me going out on the job." He's following in footsteps of his Dad, Uncle, and Grandparents et al in placing Military service as a normal but significant part of his life. We all know the Windsors have various faults but we cannot fault them on their distinguished military service (Prince Edward the exception). Something our politicians have a distinct lack of experience of.

Cameron, Obama, and Sarkozy vow Gaddafi must go - Regime Change then?

Looks like it's back to business once again for our Armed Forces.

Althought not quite sure we've quite got the logistics to just do it this time round. It's just been announced on BBC News that Cameron, Obama, and Sarkozy have said in a joint letter that there can be no peace in Libya while Gaddafi stays in power... mmmmm, looks like blatant regime change is on the cards then; despite a UN resolution clearly stipulating the contrary.

2003

The last time the UK got involved in regime change we got stung well and truely, and lambasted by the international community.
Funny too how the French have suddenly changed their foreign policy. Wonder why that is...? They were no where to be seen when we went into Iraq.

It's business at usual with Libya

Gulf War... we've been there and done it time and time again.

Yes we know it's getting a bit boring and most of us don't want to be involved in this conflict (afterall we've been involved in every major conflict this past 25 years AND had the Falklands War and Northern Ireland campaign at the same time) - our feelings are a conpunction not from left-wing political views nor dreamed up neo-socialism, but plain and simple weariness. The public, at least supporters of the armed forces and their familes, have suffered enough. But that's a whole different issue and debate.

The current one is that like it or not, we're involved in Libya and can't let the French do it (even if they did surely they'd make a mess of it at some point?) with the Austrians and Dutch. Not a great sound that is it.... Austrians and Dutch.

Foreign ministers from NATO countries are currently meeting in Berlin, amid differences among members over the air campaign to protect civilians in Libya. The UK and France have been pushing for other countries to increase military pressure on Col Muammar Gaddafi.

And rightly so. Basically for the things pointed out above - war weariness. Lets get other EU and NATO countries participating more and providing more logistics.

Let's just wait and see what transpires at this summit...

A Show of Gratitude to our UK Armed Forces

Well, it's about time we got started on this - long over due indeed.

But firstly, a big thank you to all the troops round the world, all the services for the work they are doing - it's a mostly thankless task mainly appreciated by close friends and family, and a few in the media. Other than that, the UK Armed Forces acts with what it can and with what it does, depending on the need and requirements of the time - Whitehall and the Treasury hold the purse strings and it just never seeems enough.  And in this time of cuts to the defence budget and commitments just about on every major continent - our troops need your support more than ever before.

Not only those that come back home but those that continue to suffer and those that never make it.

Thanks