I am aware that many of those with vested interests didn't like what I had to say about privatisation of SAR and I may have reacted in the past to some of the insults and abuse that came my way but I have never set out to be offensive.
Some people just want to take my remarks that way because they either don't understand them or read far more into them than is there - it is the nature of the written word that it is open to interpretation and easy to be selective about what one reads.
I am many things but delusional isn't one of them - cynical maybe, but that comes from 57 years on the planet and 32 years of being f**ked about by professionals in the military - I was never one of the 'staff-speakers' who thought if they talked the talk it meant they could walk the walk.
I didn't buy the reasons for privatising SAR and I am still unconvinced by its sustainability in its current form - let's hope, for the sake of all those who might need a world-leading SAR service, that I am wrong.