OK, the people who are sniping at LOA here are missing (or conveniently ignoring) the fact that it is there to enable you to live to the same standard in the country of posting as you would in the UK; the leveling process is the ubiquitous "shopping basket". I believe that the majority of those who have posted here are complaining not simply at the reduction of LOA, but the process that was behind the reduction. There was no comparison with the cost of living in other countries, it was simply an arbitrary reduction to meet a financial target - and that is the iniquity of the whole deal. It was not transparent and it is, in the round, indefensible. I posted earlier in this thread a comment about PAP and I would defy anyone on this forum to explain the morality of a SP having to pay 80-90% of the costs of a posting journey simply because he wants to take his car to the new location. I'm sure that the cleverdicks amongst you will point out that in the small (very very small) print there is, included in the daily rate of LOA, a figure that allegedly recompenses the SP for having to sell his car in the UK, purchase a new car in the new location, sell that car and purchase another vehicle on their return to the UK. Note I say allegedly - because no-one could ever tell me how much a day I received to carry out this complicated chain of purchases. Just before those that are that way inclined start banging on again, the legality of the new allowance structure was challenged by someone at the location I was serving at, and the DLS were absolutely sure that the way the new allowances were implemented would not survive a legal challenge. The Defence Board eventually decided that there was no case to answer (but they would, wouldn't they). I will say no more on this at the moment because the case is still rumbling on and may well end up in the public domain
. So, just to be crystal clear; I know there is no money left - it's not the what (cut in allowances) that is so galling, but the way in which it was done and that fact that those that did it take us all for fools allied to the fact that it is now costing the SP money from his own pocket - over and above that he would spend in the UK to simply sustain a similar lifestyle.
