T-Handle,
I agree, and not biting to this thread, but I do find it ironic, the only boat that the MOD could send at the request of the FCO was one that was about to return to UK under SDSR to be scrapped!
And with the greatest respect to the Senior Service, what capability is this 'small' tub going to offer UK nationals in Libya?
It is these unstable and unpredictable events that make a mockery of the National Security Council and SDSR-UK plc maybe broke, and MoD/HMG/Industry procurement screw ups may have resulted in a huge black hole....
But are we as a nation sure in these uncertain times that we should be reducing our armed forces so quickly, and with such fervour ( and with what appears very little true use of the word 'strategic')?