As to ignoring facts, it is FACT that while carriers have been useful many times since 1970, they've been ESSENTIAL just once, in 1982.
You could say the same about most pieces of military kit. They are insurance policies afterall. The RAF hasn't shot down an enemy plane since WW2, but that doesn't mean we should get rid of them.
Folks here are talking about "balanced forces". The US defence budget is about 10 times ours. They can afford 10 carrier groups, we are talking about having one at sea at anytime. That is balance.
Its the social security budget that is the festering wound in the economy and is largely the cause of the chronic underfunding of the other spending ministries.
Do you have ANY idea just how thoroughly unpleasant and degrading it is trying to eke out an existence in one of the most expensive countries in the world on benefits?
No, I don't suppose that you do.
Do you have ANY idea just how difficult it is to even GET benefits as an immigrant to the UK?
No, I don't suppose that you do.
Funnily enough I do on both counts. If you arrive as an illegal immigrant into the borough of Camden, the first thing they do is give you £100 worth of Argos vouchers. It is still a ciminal offence to enter the country illegally. Where to they find the £10k to get here? It should be enforced and offenders deported. I have a tenant who has been on benefits for the two years that she has been with me and she seems to manage. Her friend has just another baby so she gets £1300 month rent paid by the council and child support. This takes place on a massive scale.
Navaleye