FB11
What did AM Loder
actually say?
Anyway, there was something interesting in the
Telegraph yesterday:
We need to reprieve axed ships and planes, say Tories
Ministers are under mounting pressure over the review, which scrapped HMS Ark Royal and her Harrier jump-jets, leaving Britain without a working aircraft carrier for a decade. It also scrapped nine new Nimrod surveillance aircraft, which cost taxpayers £3.6 billion. Mr Arbuthnot, whose committee is investigating the review, told William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, that the Libyan conflict raised questions about the decisions taken over Britain’s military capabilities.
In the Commons, Mr Arbuthnot asked: “Might we need to reconsider some of the decisions taken in that, for example, the scrapping of some reconnaissance aircraft and even some ships?”
Julian Lewis, a former Conservative front-bench spokesman on defence, told the Commons that the scrapping of the aircraft carrier and the Harriers was done “at the last minute and for financial reasons”.
He urged Mr Hague: “Have urgent discussions with the Defence Secretary on reactivating HMS Ark Royal and some of the Harriers because people who know about these matters know how versatile and valuable such a capacity would be.” The aircraft carrier was formally decommissioned earlier this month and work has already started on dismantled parts of the vessel.
Personally I'd just concentrate on the Harriers - on which note, you might find
this ARRSE thread interesting.