So, the United Kingdom, consisting of the
British Isles and
Ireland (which is so phonetically close to 'island' as makes no difference), now has no chance at all of a half decent maritime capability.
A set of islands.... surrounded by water.... don't got a plane wot can luk foar fings in water (poor spelling intentional).
Also, I'd like to draw some attention to the BBC news frontpage this morning. Two stories of interest:
1. "Cost of UK fraud £38bn a year"
BBC News - Fraud costs UK economy '£38bn a year'
2. "Scrapping Nimrod fleet 'perverse'
Leading military figures warn that scrapping the £4bn fleet of new RAF Nimrods will create a "massive gap" in British security"
BBC News - Scrapping RAF Nimrods 'perverse' say military chiefs
The Nimrod, a fundamental asset, is being scrapped after £4bn has been spent, in order to save £2bn over the next 10 years.
Whilst UK fraud costs £38bn. Per year. There is absolutely no way it can be argued as logical. It will save half of what it has already cost, leaving a huge gap in security (And let's remember the SAR capability, so it will probably cost lives). And then in comparison, it will save 0.52% of what fraud will cost over the same time frame.
(Edit: added links)