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.