Vin Rouge,
I stand by my forecast, the darkest hour is always before dawn. I agree there is more to come, but I think the damage will be limited to a few institutions that have over-reached themselves. I do think some will be allowed to fail this time around. (And I'll have long gone from both the RAF and UK by then....)
Jim Lad,
I'm sure you are an excellent civil servant, but if they offered to pay you £50 a month, you would leave. You would leave because you'd feel your skills are worth more than that and are saleable at a higher price.
Imagine cutting Flying Pay on top of reduced manpower and high-tempo ops. Who's going to fly the helicopters, transport and CAS fleet when all the aircrew poke off to the Middle East, Aus, Can or NZ?
Trust me, if the MOD doesn't value it's aircrew appropriately, someone else will! The UK, apart from maybe the US and Germany is deeper in the dwang than anyone else. For those looking in, that means bargains on highly qualified personnel.
Lateral recruitment has reopened for the RAAF, the Canadians are desperate for Chinook experience, and the UAE are always in the market for ex-UK forces.
These are not telesales or admin assistants. These people take years to replace, and the experience takes even longer to build to the current (already diluted) levels.
Not A Boffin,
Part of the reason for the gaps can be found in yesterdays Telegraph. The UK is now paying out more in Welfare payments than it recieves in Income Tax for the first time.