orca,
I have to take issue with your Sir. Your comment: Should armed forces personel be paid extra for aiding the civil power? No, absolutely not. It's fundemental military task is frankly nonesence.
This is NOT a fundamental Military task at all. If it was or ever had been, then the military would have been involved from day one on this matter, and it wasn't. This was a decision taken by those in power NOT to use the military for such duties and to thus award the contract to a civilian company who have now failed the country miserably.
As to the question of financial reward for being 'called up' during these circumstances, you are of course entitled to your opinion however, there will be many servicemen and women who will have had holidays, leave and other plans cancelled because of this governments incompetance and negligence IMHO. Those who have just returned from the sand pit, expecting some quality time with family etc will now suddenly find themselves dumped in the centre of London, and all their plans screwed up. Firemen going on strike is one thing, bailing out a civilian company is an entirely different siuation I'm afraid (not that I agree with the firemen either!)
So, I fail to see why those who are being shafted in order to prop-up the games, should not get some form of financial reward. Why not? Is not the issue of free tickets a reward?
But what about those who don't want a free ticket for the games? What about those, whose wives are so pi$$ed off at all this, not getting a few hundred quid to take them away for a weekend or something to help them get over all the crap of this? Whatever happened to the service family we used to have? I am not too proud to say that in the main, my wife went through far more sh1t than I ever did by being in the military. It was her who was left behind at no notice to explain things to the kids. It was her left behind to cope with it all.
I really do think that we should be doing something here to say to people, 'listen, we are bloody sorry for screwing things up, but here is some money, get yourselves away for a break', or whatever.
Instead, I have little doubt that those who have had to cancel their holidays and other plans will now have all sorts of hardship and grief trying to recover their costs back, knowing the beaurocracy of it all.
And finally it was interesting watching the former CDS telling us all how the boys and girls will just get on with it last night on Newsnight. Well that may well be true Sir, but it is somewhat spineless of you to simply brush it off in the way you did. Typical of VSOs these days I'm afraid.
Good luck to all of you who's lives have been affected by this fiasco. You have my sympathy, and above all my respect. I have no doubt you will all just get on and do it, and do it well. That still doesn't make it bloody right though!!
Winco