Your Airline does WHAT??

[FJJP]

Jackonicho, you do make a number of very valid points, worth commenting on in turn.

I'm with you 100% on procurement cock-ups. Indeed I have been at the receiving end of a number of them, usually finance-induced - 'chop this off the specification to save a bit of money' syndrome, which usually means that the bit of kit will perform way below what is NEEDED and will cost much more than the original costings to rectify. The infuriating thing about this is that those individuals that make the decisions to chop are NEVER HELD TO ACCOUNT. It all gets swept under the carpet - promotion, medals and home for tea. Sod the man in the field who doesn't have the kit to do the job.

I agree that political expediency is often the cause of secrecy - maybe if the politicians had the guts to name names and actually become honest for a nanosecond in their miserable lives and admit to having got it wrong, then maybe the public would have more faith in those making decisions on our behalf, not to mention spending vast sums of our money in the process. The latest screw-up is in its infancy right now - I refer you to the impending c*ck-up in computerising the NHS. Another project that is beyond the capability of contractors in this country (witness the IT blunders of recent years with billions poured down the drain for no return). We need people like BWoS to be held totally to account, as is beginning to happen now - but with them, so should those faceless wonders who screw up procurement.

Nuclear affairs should never be discussed IMHO. It is bad enough that rogue governments and terror groups can lay their hands on seriously nasty weapons, but the thought of Bin Laden laying his hands on even the crudest and most simple of nuclear weapons just doesn't bear thinking about. 9/11 would seem a picnic compared with what some terror groups would do if able. Those of us who held special clearances to work on and with nuclear weapons are uncomfortable discussing the subject, if for no other reason than we were indoctrinated into the need for secrecy, to prevent detail falling into the enemy (Eastern Bloc) hands. Now for Easter Bloc, read Terrorist/rogue governments. Besides, nuclear deterrence is still around - the fact that such weapons exist is all that anybody needs to know; the detail is irrelevant.

I agree that the concept that politicians and generals 'know best' is outdated, and rightly so. They must be held to account for their reasons for a particular course of action. Within reason. A witch-hunt in the media trying to create max embarrassment for the PM or even trying to drive him out of office is counter productive and frankly tedious to watch. Media think that the public have an insatiable appetite for scandal and falling politicians. Well, forget the opinion polls, conducted with carefully chosen groups of people; the average conversation, certainly in my pub, indicates that few bother to watch the news or read the papers these days because of this factor. If the balance is right, the public will follow the debates with interest, and make informed choices at the ballot box.

You are right in your assertion that the public will demand to know why vast sums are being spent on 'boys toys'. So do I. When it is explained to them that a radio for the guys in the field costs x squillion pounds, but the money will guarantee to provide them with a device that will work in ALL conditions, and that it is essential in the modern battlefield and that it will save lives and help towards the ultimate victory, then they will be happy with that. But it is not helpful if that debate starts to make public shortfalls in performance that the manufacturer and users are trying to fix or work round. However it was caused, be it money, bad procurement, poor manufacturing or what, it is not good for the man at the sharp end to have the enemy know of your weaknesses. Wars are won and lost on one side finding out and exploiting the weaknesses of the other. The Israelis were good at that...

Secrecy and transparency both have their place in the modern world. Getting the balance right is a trick called common sense. If disclosing something could bodily harm others, them perhaps it is best left unsaid.

[Edited for spelling]