Dallas - I believe it's you who has your priorities wrong. I have argued a very similar point to this on the "Which party favours defence?" thread, but will set out my position again.
the subject matter is the realm of the defence chiefs.
True, the defence chiefs are indeed the experts on military
strategy. They use their expertise to execute the defence
policy written by civil servants in the MOD.
Policy is written under the direction of the Government. And ultimately, the Government is answerable to the electorate.
My opinions on the strategic defence priorities of the United Kingdom will be incomplete, lacking the full picture
So what? Are you saying that the defence chiefs should be able to decide for themselves what they want to do, and crack on? That kind of attitude prevails in places like Sri Lanka and Pakistan; hardly what a nation of our history should be aspiring to. Your opinions on the strategic defence priorities of the UK are
exactly what the Government is asking for, regardless of how ill-conceived they are. That is exactly what democracy is based upon - representation of the views of the majority of the people. Given that Defence is not typically a deciding issue at general elections, this consultation is effectively your only chance
for 10 years (!) to get your opinion across. And I would hope that you, as a serviceman, would value your own opinion on military matters above that of the average Sun reader - get your voice heard, because they will!
The Government don't want to know what you think about individual procurement projects, or the closure of RAF Cottesmore, or whether we have a big enough fleet to defend our lovely new carriers. They
definitely don't want to know what you think about your terms of service, which are decided by the defence chiefs (experts in their field, remember) in order that the services recruit and retain the right people to execute Defence policy. Servicemen get consulted on such issues totally separately through internal processes such as the AFPRB. Examples of what the Green Paper
does want to know might be:
- How important is it that the UK has a high profile in global defence matters?
- Should we maintain a contingency "full war" capability to support our position on the UN Security Council?
- Should we abandon pretence of being a world power and concentrate on homeland defence whilst providing specialists to EU or NATO forces for foreign activities?
- And, most importantly, how highly do you prioritise these things against schools, hospitals, the environment, transport...
I am sure there will be many replies shouting me down to the effect of "but they won't listen, so why bother?". Dallas' position is, sadly, representative of the disengagement people feel with politics in this country; hence, people vote only to secure their own direct interests. As any politician's primary goal is to get elected, this leads to Governments whose overriding interest is in building a "client" group of reliable voters - and this expensive activity doesn't leave much of the budget for broader issues. If you want to avoid this, you need to
(1) get your opinions on the "big" issues like defence strategy heard
(so, reply to the Green Paper now!), and then
(2) vote for the party whose manifesto offers the best overall match to your views -
NOT for the party who promises to bung you £300 in this-or-that tax credit, or whatever particular wheeze they've dreamt up for your target group.
However much distrust and dislike you may have for politics and politicians, remember the quote "democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others". It's the only system in which your opinion matters a jot. The cynics who would abandon big-picture decision-making to a ruling group of experts, without any input from below, are effectively advocating the kind of government seen in China or the former Soviet Union. Your opinion on the big issues
does count, so reply to the Green Paper!