Britain's Defence Squeeze ON NOW Channel 4

[Helol]

Channel Four Dispatches airing now.

'Britain's Defence Squeeze'

[chopper2004]

Aye they're talking about the Nimrod funnily enough in the opener :)

Cheers

[Helol]

There's a surprise... ;-)

[NutLoose]

More have joined ISIS than the reserves.. Blimey! Very good programme.

[Cpt_Pugwash]

Not half as good as it could have been.

Adm. West "admitting " they couldn't identify the individual responsible for the size of the carriers? He would know full well that those sort of decisions are made by committee, perhaps influenced by a few forceful individuals, but it should all be recorded and traceable. If not, the Audit Commission report will make interesting reading.

[Training Risky]

Did anyone else notice the bulbous nose of a Nimrod AEW in the museum as the narrator was talking about a lack of MPA capability?:D

[Sandy Parts]

Good to see the journo had at least read the info boards when in the back of the museum MR2. Shame he called the item a "sonarbuoy" when the writing on it clearly said "sonobuoy" but 9 out of 10 for effort and showing an interest. Never seen a galley look so clean (and empty...:{)
Shame the show dived into the CEA debate - small change compared to the big issues (and a diminishing expense no doubt given the reduction in manning and more permanent location postings).
Notice no current MoD minister/secretary/underling willing to give a reply. Just the usual MoD 'statements'.
The saddest thing was the lack of promotion of the program. Compare with the daily adverts for Dispatches shows covering NHS / Welfare issues. I guess that shows the importance of Defence in the eyes of the 'meedja' and therefore the public. :rolleyes:

[melmothtw]

Did anyone else notice the bulbous nose of a Nimrod AEW in the museum as the narrator was talking about a lack of MPA capability?:D



Shame he called the item a "sonarbuoy" when the writing on it clearly said
"sonobuoy"...


Rather than being disappointed with media mistakes, I'm sure that some of you are secretly delighted as it gives you the opportunity to come on here and show everyone just how 'clever' you are.

[RileyDove]

Unfortunately half an hour wasn't really adequate to give a proper covering of the issues .

[Sandy Parts]

ah mel,mel - did we upset you with our correcting of the errors?
Try not to let it bother you - we promise not to nitpick in areas we don't know about (which is a departure from many postings on this site :p)

[skua]

RD

I agree - it should have been one hour. It was as if the presenter chose 4 or so topics, and aimed a sighting shot at each, before moving on to the next. Still anything that gets defence up from the bottom of the election agenda is to be welcomed.

[melmothtw]

Not at all Sandy, but perhaps your ire might be directed a little closer to home than the media.

If 'sonar buoy' is good enough for the Royal Aeronautical Society, you can't really blame the BBC for getting it wrong.

Royal Aeronautical Society | Insight Blog | SDSR 2015 ? Issues, options and implications (http://aerosociety.com/News/Insight-Blog/2921/SDSR-2015-Issues-options-and-implications)

For example, a Reaper RPAS or similar could not release and exploit a field of sonar buoys.

[david parry]

The meeting to change from F35 C to F35 B ,took only 20 minutes . It cost us £120 milliion:rolleyes:

[barnstormer1968]

Maybe there were a lot of cakes and biscuits bought for the meeting

[kintyred]

The MoD has a chief economist? Sounded like the last one was complete waste of space! "Oh no, I couldn't possibly have pointed out that there were too many senior officers....not good for my career don't you know, old boy." Ah, well, he might have been carp at economics but at least he had integrity.:ugh:

[chopper2004]

The funny bit, was the head of SF cracked a smile and laughed when asked if what we had today was sufficient forgot his comment...

Cheers

[Willard Whyte]

The meeting to change from F35 C to F35 B ,took only 20 minutes . It cost us £120 milliion

That was the B to C decision, according to the prog.

Although one does wonder if it cost a similar amount to reverse it...

[Sandy Parts]

Other that the reaction on here - not seen a single ripple of interest for the issues raised in the program.
Will be buried among the political party and MoD spin leading up to the election I supppose :rolleyes:
Is there a course somewhere for all these "spokespeople" to learn the phrases: "I'm sorry, we don't have a representative available for your program" and "we have spent XXX on XXX over the last 5 years and do not recognise the findings of your investigation"? They seem to be much used by most publicly funded departments/agencies these days.
Too much emphasis on accounts rather than accountability?

[zedder]

SP,
The well-worn saying that "They know the cost of everything but the value of nothing" is still so VERY true.:{

[MSOCS]

The military PR machine is its own worst enemy in such things. When have you ever heard the military respond with, "the Ministry of Defence agrees that resources we have today are not enough to meet the political ambitions of the Government"?! Gen Lord Richards is more than happy to reveal his true colours following retirement and entry to the red-lined benches of the House of Lords but would he have said the same in uniform some 2 years ago? I'd wager no.

The Government should listen intently to the advice and experience of soldiers, sailors and airmen at such high rank.

If you ever wondered where the moral compass of a politician may point, look no further than Phillip Hammond's contemptuous soundbite stating, "there are no votes in Defence." And this from a man who has barely left post as SofS for Defence. :ugh:

Perhaps the solution is for more of our shining military people to run for parliament and bring greater balance.

[dervish]

Well said MSOCS.




Thought C4 did a good job in the limited slot.

[Sandy Parts]

Second the above.
Re ex-mil standing for election - perhaps we cannot stomach the necessary sacrificing of beliefs for the sake of 'party'? I'd guess the majority of us are too outspoken to survive in the modern political system? (I often have to bite my tongue in a normal civvy job - let alone dealing with some of the characters you'd no doubt meet as an MP :)) Good luck to those that do stand but the phrase "a voice in the wilderness" springs to mind.

[gr4techie]

Just watched the programme on the 4OD website.

My favourite part is when the Scottish MP Angus Robertson went into a hissy-fit saying the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov even had someone walking around in a fancy dress Santa outfit. How dare they !

And a former MI officer described Colonels as little minions. If a Colonel is a little minion, what does that make me?

[melmothtw]

And a former MI officer described Colonels as little minions. If a Colonel is a little minion, what does that make me?

I think that was the point gr4 - we have so many senior officers that Colonels are effectively being turned into dogs-bodies.

[MSOCS]

I think that was the point gr4 - we have so many senior officers that Colonels are effectively being turned into dogs-bodies.

Quite Melmothtw. The UK military rank distribution is less pyramidal in shape and more trapezoidal.