Originally Posted by
Foghorn Leghorn
Exactly this, BV. I’m still unsure why popeye has taken it so personally and made an ad hom attack on RAF leadership then accused everyone of being drunk.
The further point to be made is this is the recycling of a story from The Times three weeks ago…
In that story, not only was CAS considered a contender for the job, but Gerry Mayhew had been asked whether he would consider allowing his name to go forward as a candidate - along with Lt Gen Jim Hockenhull and Ben Key. Only the latter had said ‘yes’. I suspect that GM considers himself too young (he’d be the youngest ever CDS by something like six years, IIRC).
So the basic premise for the attack on the RAF leadership is predicated upon Ben Key being one of three officers thinking ‘sounds interesting’ and the Telegraph’s rehashing of the story omitting the two other officers and Mike Wigston’s names. Basing any presumptions purely on defence stories in the Telegraph is a dangerous game…
FWIW, the rumour mill in my little corner of the world suggests that MW is thought too young at the moment: youngest of the Chiefs by a couple of years, and younger than Ben Key - and Jim Hockenhull, for that matter. Rumour control speculates MW stands a decent chance of being in the mix for VCDS after Tim Fraser (don’t entirely rule him out of the CDS job), and then competing for CDS in three years time; he’d still be one of the youngest CDS’s in history (as will TR on taking up the appointment if he’s chosen). Other rumour mills may vary, of course.