Back in the mid-1970s, tempers were running rather high at RAF Brawdy - this was before all the pay rises of the following (Thatcher) years. So an MP was persuaded to come down from London to 'talk to the chaps' so that he could understand the problem more clearly.
This was when there was only one Severn Bridge and the M4 stopped at Newport, apart from a small bit new Swansea. So escaping from Wales took ages along the A40 and A48. So the MP didn't exactly get off to a good start when talking to the SNCOs when he announced that he didn't realise quite how far Brawdy was from Westminster..... Much murmuring from the assembled throng, then the fist question:
"Sir, can you tell us why you've come all this way at £(lots) per mile to tell us why we only get £(not very much) per mile for the same car?"
"Look, I asked for serious questions, not trivial ones"
"Well, sir, if you can't answer something as simple as that, why should we listen to anything else you have to say?"
