Al Lockwood attacks Blairs seat

[engineer(retard)]

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/election/story/0,15803,1444256,00.html

Gp Capt Al Lockwood represents tories in Blairs back garden.

[WASALOADIE]

Maybe more of us ought to take them on in other seats

[jindabyne]

Good on yer Al - take it you won't be sporting your traditional yellow ties then? Best of Luck mate!

[stiknruda]

I've not seen Al since 617 and TTTE days..... but that photo in the Grauniad link surely isn't one of my favourite sheep-shaggers?

Stik

[jindabyne]

stik

You have the wrong Al - different Lockwood. Wasn't yours a Vic?

[foldingwings]

Jinda,

Don't you mean Vic Blackwood?

Al Lockwood was definitely at TTTE when I went through in 85.

[jindabyne]

foldingthings,

Correct!! Can't see my cock for the wood. Wasn't he (Al) one of the few to have operated both GR and ADV?

[foldingwings]

The very boy!

Just been told off by the PPRuNe computer for using 3 words when 15 would be acceptable

So, message amended to: Al Lockwood, the very boy, one of the few to have operated both GR and ADV.

Computer says

3 words too few!

[Impiger]

Words fail me.

Do the Tories know what they're taking on?

[stiknruda]

Two Al Lockwoods - both at Gp Cpt rank? I thought that the Air Force was downsizing - I didn'trealise that this meant cloning.

The moustachioed Kiwi was OC Coningsby last time we were in contact.

If all serving members of HM, registered to vote in Sedgefield and voted for their ex-colleague............

what would be the chance of that?

Stik

[PPRuNe Pop]

Personally, I rather hope Bliar has got a serious problem. It won't be safe flying in Sedgefield that's for sure.:p

[jindabyne]

Impiger

Tony Blair!

[The Gorilla]

Ex CO of RAF Thumrait if I remember correctly and oh yes he certainly has the qualities to be a conservative MP!!



:ok:

[Shjustme]

BUT! is he the right stuff to be a Conservative MP?

If he is a good chappie, how come he was not promoted to Air Commodore?

Must have been a good Wing Commander to get promoted to Groupy, but then things did not go according to plan apparently.

What happened ????????????

[stiknruda]

So - harking back.... is the photo of the chap in the link the real Al NZ L ,....... or is he an impostor?

Would the real slim-shadey please stand up!



Stik

[Safety_Helmut]

Some names are coming to mind here:

Neil Hamilton, Jonathan Aitken, David Mellor, Stephen Milligan.

Safety_Helmut

[jindabyne]

stik

The piccie is that of Al Lockwood. Gp Capt RAF (ret'd), to whom we all , confusingly perhaps to you, refer -----???? Whether or not he has the potential to be an MP is, in our grand democracy, up to his constituency voters. I like the man, and good luck to him, but I would imagine he also has a day job!

[Runaway Gun]

Ahh yes, Al Lockwood.

Wasn't he the guy that the RAF sent to New Zealand, to recruit their Skyhawk Pilots?

That's right, he emailed them later to say "F*ck off and join the Aussie Air Force".

Yeah, he'll make a politician....

[Impiger]

To Safety Helmut's list you might add:

For adulterous conduct: John Major, Edwina Curry, Geoffrey Archer

For dishonesty: Neil Hamilton, Archer, Alan Clarke

MPs seem to be prone to being a sleezy self serving bunch - a sweeping generalisation I know but lets not let that get in the way

So let the electorate decide on Al Weed - Central Office obviously like the cut of his jib, but then again they liked all the other names mentioned!

[Ex Douglas Driver]

Well, I wasn't going to mention it, but now it's out......

All I'll say is that in my limited dealings with him, while trying to transfer to the RAF, make me think he's already got most of the requisite skills for politics. :hmm:

Take that any way you like.

[The Gorilla]

He most certainly does!!

;)

[jindabyne]

You're sad people -----------

[Wingswinger]

Agreed. Anyone who makes a determined effort to unseat Blair would get my vote.

[SirPeterHardingsLovechild]

I hope Al's got his parachute packed

He could drop into the safe seat in Arundel, and leave the Sedgefield fight clear for the Red Cap's Dad.

But that would be too simple.


Many happy memories of Al Lockwood and the self policing two can rule in Thumrait.

[Pontius Navigator]

Don't remember any mustache either at CGY or as the face of the Britmil in Kuwait.

When on the box during GW2 he was word perfect - same script that we all got. I thought on the box as a prospective candidate he did not seem quite as fluent.

While he hasn't got a prayer in ousting a sitting PM he is just the man to tell all about what he couldn't say when he was a spokesperson.

[markerboy]

In answer to your question, the ex Thumrait OC was higher up the lickerty split, but had a run in with the the powers that be and was asked (kindly) if he wouldn't mind taking off those stars and putting on ther GC tabs again. Shame really. Top bloke to have as a boss.

[Pontius Navigator]

And to quote "If I knew what it was going to be like I would have gone spec aircrew."

[DuckDodgers]

Ah yes Lockwood the Cock! The man who turned to the Kiwis and said "If you wanna join a first rate air force then you'll come here with no monetary help, if not f*** off to the RAAF." The man is a cock of the highest order!

[jindabyne]

DodgingDick

See 25th March post - and vineyard is all one-word chum.

[Showtime100]

A little off thread however, I read in the paper at the week-end what changed Blair’s mind about school dinners. After 2 years of saying they were not a priority and there was no extra money available to improve them he mysteriously finds an extra £230m 5 weeks before the election.

Turns out that Jamie Oliver was planning to stand against him in Sedgefield if he didn’t cough up. That would have been funny to watch…….someone young, popular, charismatic and honest……………..

[ORAC]

Boost for Keys bid to unseat Blair

Press Association Monday April 18, 2005 12:53 PM

An anti-Iraq war protester's bid to unseat Tony Blair has been boosted by the defection of a senior local Labour figure and a rival candidate.

Dave Cattell, a member of Labour's Executive Committee in Mr Blair's Sedgefield constituency, is quitting the party to support independent candidate Reg Keys. He said the war raised questions about the "honesty and integrity" of the Prime Minister's leadership.

His decision follows an announcement by former MI5 officer David Shayler to pull out of the race to give Mr Keys a clear run at Mr Blair. Mr Shayler appealed to other parties to withdraw their candidates in a bid to depose Mr Blair in the way anti-sleaze candidate Martin Bell did Tory Neil Hamilton in Tatton in 1997.

Mr Keys, 52, whose soldier son died in the war, has accused Mr Blair of misleading Parliament over the reasons for the military action against Saddam Hussein. Lance Corporal Tom Keys, 20, was one of six Red Caps killed by an Iraqi mob as they manned a small police station in Al Majar Al Kabir on June 24 2003.

Mr Cattell, of Windlestone, Co Durham, will resign his Labour membership at Mr Keys' campaign HQ. He will say: "I have been a member of the Labour Party for 30 years and this decision has been very hard for me. But I have become increasingly concerned by a growing number of issues associated with Tony Blair's leadership - none more so than the decision to go to war with Iraq. "This decision has raised many questions regarding the honesty and integrity of his leadership. I have therefore decided to leave the Labour Party and sign Reg Keys' nomination papers, as Keys is the only candidate who can defeat Blair and is, indeed, well placed to do so."

[Jim Meatherwan]

Al Lockwood:

1000+ hours Hercules
1000+ hours Phantom
1000+ hours GR1
1000+ hours ADV

A thoroughly upright bloke - straight talking and straight shooting. A man who walks the walk. I would vote for him any day and hope he makes it.

His personal life is beyond the scope of this thread and there is a lot more to it than meets the eye.

I know a lot of people who would have walked over broken glass for him. Self included.

[soddim]

Al has certainly got a lot more about him than Bliar - and he can talk in public without a smirk.

[Chris Kebab]

Didn't he do a co's tour on Victors as well.

You either love him or you hate him. Me..........well.

[grobace]

I'm afraid if Al has anything to hide in his personal life, then he will quickly find out like many in public life before him that it won't remain hidden forever.

[sonicstomp]

Good old Al!

My abiding memory of him from Thumrait was of him ordering another 30 min bar extension (again!) to the music of Chesney Hawks - "I am the one and only!"

I remember him being a straight-talking charismatic leader of the best kind! Mind, I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him....

[highcirrus]

So how about some serious support folks; a circling of the wagons, zero PC bull**** about personal lives (please examine your own) and major support for a guy who might be able to give Bliar a serious run for his money on his home ground (anyone who has taken the trouble to visit the constituency will realize that it is utterly misrepresented by the present incumbent).

Time for closing of ranks guys and galls and a quitting of illusions – tough times coming up and decisive (non US lead) leadership is required – will not be provided by the present bunch of chancers – Bufhoon included.

[grobace]

If you think Al Lockwood - or any one else for that matter - is capable of unseating an incumbent PM, you really do have your head in the clouds!

[Ali Barber]

When the Talibar was officially opened, he didn't get some lord and lady muck to do it; he chose the youngest, most junior guy in the camp and the plaque is still there I believe! He's a top bloke.

[pr00ne]

Highcirrus,

“(anyone who has taken the trouble to visit the constituency will realize that it is utterly misrepresented by the present incumbent”).

Well, it would appear that it was SO misrepresented by the present incumbent that he managed to increase his majority!

Was this the intended Al Lockwood effect, to reduce the tory vote even further!


A historic third term, BTW what was the TSR-1?

[Archimedes]

I rather think that this was partly down to the Reg Keys effect. Blair's majority went up by the the vast amount of 736.

Turn out was up 15%, but his share of the vote fell by 6% and the number of votes cast for him fell by 1689. The Tory vote seems to have been hit by Reg Keys' candidacy, since the share of the vote fell.

Not quite the improved endorsement the phrase 'increased majority' usually suggests...

[Cat5 in the Hat]

Eh?

Whilst the Tories lost 6.5 % in Segdefield, Labour lost 6%.

Hardly an increase in my books....(source http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/506.stm)

Everyone should have left Sedgefield alone, for a Bliar/Keys showdown.

Cat5

[pr00ne]

Even with the Reg Keys effect there was still a swing from Tory to labour, that for a PM supposedly the most unpopular ever and the Iraq factor being manipulated by the Keys campaign.

A third term for the first time ever and now Michael Howard has quit, another Tory party leader seen off by Blair.

[Archimedes]

Er... yes, but it was a swing of 0.2%, and working on the assumption that some Tory voters would have cast their vote for Reg Keys (a better way of sending a message to the PM than voting for Al Lockwood), it is hardly remarkable.

I'm not quite sure why there seems to be surprise at Howard standing down. He'll be at least 68 when the next election occurs, which (if he won) would make him the oldest PM since Churchill when the election after that came around (yes, yes, I'm assuming the Conservatives would win). If he stayed on, you can guarantee that this would be pointed out, his authority questioned, constant debates about when he'd go, etc, etc. It's actually the sort of sensible thinking about the leadership that the Conservatives haven't shown since 1975 (i.e. stop, reflect on who might actually win them the next election and give them a proper run at it).

[Navaleye]

A sad day for us all. Prepare to pay much more tax for worse services, for crime to rocket, for business to be budened down with red tape and for our national defence to wither on the vine. Add to that continued curruption and downright lies fused with a thick helping of incompetance and we are in for a tough time.

[Pontius Navigator]

I am surprised that navaleye didn't leap in to answer the question on TSR-1.







Surely every aviation buff knows the TSR-1 was a naval aircraft.








Torpedo, strike, reconnaissance mark 1.













yup, the Swordfish.

[pr00ne]

Pontius Navigator,

Wasn’t the Swordfish the Torpedo Spotter Recconnaisance 11, i.e the original TSR-2 in roman numeral form?


Navaleye,

Pay more attention man, the Lib Dems did NOT get in!

[Navaleye]

Pay more attention man, the Lib Dems did NOT get in!

Thank god for small mercies !:(

Didn't the Barracuda have the TSR title as well?

[Pontius Navigator]

pr00ne, you could be right about the II so which was the I sir?

[pr00ne]

Pontius Navigator,

I really don't know, so that's two mysterious TSR-2s seperated by thirty years. On the latter example what was the origin of the TSR, I know it stood for Tactical Strike Reconniasance but was that a manufacturers designation or the ministries I wonder?

[Pontius Navigator]

pr00ne, I really don't know. Could go either way really. I do know that Avro (Woodford I think) was flogging an idea arond the bazaars in '63 for a Trykon missile. Very SECRET. They sent clasified brochures to anyone they thought could influence the ministry.

We had a copy at Waddo in '67. As it had Confidential all over it it was a PITA. The missile looked really good <g>. You would fly cross country and when you came to 'the river' or 'the road' you let fly and steered it down the line feature, using its on-board TV camera, data linked back to mother, until you came to the bridge, convoy, train or whatever.

Don't know what became of this gem.

Unless of course Trykon was too difficult in French and they went for missile anti- radar Tel (ivison) :O

I guess what scuppered it in the land attack role was the limitation on LOS data Links. Either mothersat up in the SAM envelope or the missile did.

[Groundgripper]

According to this site (http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/tsr2/history.html), TSR1 was the Canberra.

GG