Originally Posted by
BVRAAM
It was not a rhetorical question, it was a question asked that I'd like an answer to,
Your question “why is the public being deceived?” infers that the public is being deceived. Unless you can demonstrate that to be a fact, the question is rhetorical. I suggest there’s more chance of seeing Santa Claus than there is of seeing a MOD spokesperson going on record with “we’re deceiving the public about pilot manning to keep Defence off the news agenda” or similar.
Edited to add: your reference to Keynesian economics is wayyyyy out of left field. The Government has any number of better ways to stimulate the domestic economy than by spending on Defence, where much of the cash ends up overseas unless ‘buy British’ is enforced. Even then, the ‘British’ companies aren’t 100% British, and stand by for complaints about our forces not being allowed to have the best US/Israeli/other kit!