Help focus the cuts on the right areas
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Some more points that I have submitted
Sign young aircrew up for 20-25 years and not pay £100,000 retenson bonus.
Allow NCO Pilots and Navs.
Get rid of flying pay if you elect to take a ground job or are not able to fly.
Reduce the number of deployable HQs, and EAWs that do not acually go anywhere.
Perhaps the 100 year experiment should end soon. Perhaps the RAF the worlds first independant Air Force should be the first to dispand.
Crack on
Sign young aircrew up for 20-25 years and not pay £100,000 retenson bonus.
Allow NCO Pilots and Navs.
Get rid of flying pay if you elect to take a ground job or are not able to fly.
Reduce the number of deployable HQs, and EAWs that do not acually go anywhere.
Perhaps the 100 year experiment should end soon. Perhaps the RAF the worlds first independant Air Force should be the first to dispand.
Crack on
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Stop paying some benefits with money. Why can't the unemployed be paid with food/clothing vouchers ? These could be redeemed at any shop/supermarket but would not include tobacco, alcohol or electrical goods. If the unemployed wants to watch TV on a 42 " plasma then they will have to find work to earn the money.
1/ Benefits would be paid in full for the first two years, after that they would reduce by 50% per six monthly intervals until they got the hint to get off their arses and get a job! what ever it paid, it would then remove the I am not working for that out of the equation...
2/ They would also be required on their 2 years of full benefits to do 3 days community work ( they do need time to find employment as well) this would involve litter picking, road sweeping, graffiti removal etc..... you get the gist of it, failure to comply would result in item 1 being brought fwd to that date.
3/ Crimes involving theft, damage, "joyriding" vandalism would be costed and as with drug related crime where assets are seized from drug dealers, assets would be seized from the above to repay the damages caused, if assets do not add up to the cost involved, monies would be deducted at source from wages / benefits as per the CSA until as such time the cost has been refunded.....
4/ The trick of Illegal immigrants hiding their docs, therefore stopping deportation, they would be detained, an Island several miles off Scotland (15 would do) would be selected, these people would then be given basic tools to build a croft and crops seeds and an animal, such as a cow, sheep or goat, and would be settled on there and be left to get on with it until such time they decide to return home... NO benefits would be provided.
And while the Nutloose party are at it.
5/ The Human Rights laws would be rewritten to remove Illegal Immigrants, Prisoners etc.....
6/ The anti- terrorism one would be re written to remove some of the police powers, (arresting a schoolgirl out on a field trip with her school under anti terrorism laws for photographing the railway station they were visiting just brings the whole system down....)
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Gets my vote, even though I think 2 years on benefits is still too generous for some.
Maybe I could be deputy PM in a coalition? Call it the Nutschecked Alliance.
Maybe I could be deputy PM in a coalition? Call it the Nutschecked Alliance.
I think you'll find that the Guards units and RHA work bloody hard and spend a hell of a lot of time in Afgahistan, outside the wire. As superbly illustrated in a documentary about 'Trooping the Colour' a few weeks ago. Your statement might not go down too well with several of the unit who returned minus limbs
Of course what they should really do is claim back all the bonuses paid to bankers last year that was effectively syphoned off (via QE) from the taxpayer and into their bank accounts via the stock market. Greatest Ponzi scheme ever - treat the cause of the problem not the symptom!
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Bravery & sacrifice aside, all the ceremonial, heritage and public face stuff are what sets our armed forces apart from the rest. The benefits to national income through tourism, industry and national pride far outweigh their costs and should never disappear. Anyone advocating cuts to the Guards, Reds, BBMF and the like should focus more on these benefits and less on the £'s IMHO.
2. Ditch all the unaffordable ceremonial crap such as Guards units and Royal Horse Arty - it's a bygone era; forget it lads - move on - we have not used horses in true battle for some years and do we ever see any of the supposed tourist income that it generates? Wasteful in these lean times. mmm That sort of crap comment will quite rightly invite Army and Navy bods to reply. Ditch the BBMF forget it lads it s a bygone ere!!!
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The forces need their public faces more than ever, not just marching on homecomings in desert fatigues. As much as Afghanistan should be high profile, the public should also be very aware of the other things we do, or it leads to ill-informed halfwits on radio phone ins declaring that we need troops and not navies or air forces.
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How does £25,000 for 6 dog kennels grab you? For serving personnel to keep private pets in during the working day. Within the last 18 months, and I'm not joking.
Someone is also paying to put a gadget in white fleet vehicles which displays an amber or red light if you drive slightly 'dangerously' (eg, accelerate), with a 20 sec delay of course. I'm not opposed to road safety, but... how much does this sort of project cost? Headed up by an Army Major, and supported by travelling roadshow and leaflets explaining how the gadgets work (or not explaining, I should say - however, the helpful leaflet does spend a paragraph talking about human rights and the "right to light" - again, not joking - in a leaflet about driving techniques). Anyone at DE&S want to tell us how much DRIVES is costing?
I didn't know I had a right to light. I hope the PJHQ bunker is aware of this right.
Someone is also paying to put a gadget in white fleet vehicles which displays an amber or red light if you drive slightly 'dangerously' (eg, accelerate), with a 20 sec delay of course. I'm not opposed to road safety, but... how much does this sort of project cost? Headed up by an Army Major, and supported by travelling roadshow and leaflets explaining how the gadgets work (or not explaining, I should say - however, the helpful leaflet does spend a paragraph talking about human rights and the "right to light" - again, not joking - in a leaflet about driving techniques). Anyone at DE&S want to tell us how much DRIVES is costing?
I didn't know I had a right to light. I hope the PJHQ bunker is aware of this right.
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Yep, that's exactly the cr@p that needs to go, ZM.
Did anyone see the PM mention the £2.4m 'peace pods' recently installed in the FO at PMQ's today? Astonishing.
Did anyone see the PM mention the £2.4m 'peace pods' recently installed in the FO at PMQ's today? Astonishing.
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Would also like to say I'm a big fan of the ceremonial stuff. The Household Cavalry etc who put on these Trooping of the Colour events serve their time on ops like everyone else, and when they're at home...how useful are most operations-focussed units? They train like everyone else.
I've worked with them on ops, and the ceremonial duties are part of their intrinsic character, it is their means of instilling discipline and duty and teamwork in their troops - ever considered how easy it is to get a bunch of 18 year old inner city lads to stay up all night, every night for weeks bulling leather harnesses? Or how important team work is to coordinate the complex ceremonies. The immense sense of pride felt when they play an important part in such an event is part and parcel of what makes them a cohesive fighting unit in stressful combat. I don't suppose parading horses is a significantly more costly an activity than driving around Salisbury plains in tanks or IFVs or building tipods with pine-poles.
I know we're broke, but any civilized country needs to retain a little bit of heritage. Get rid of govt-sponsored arts programmes before BBMF or cavalry. The Reds now - what are they for? Last time I checked we hadn't been short of pilot applicants since forever. Jehovah!
I've worked with them on ops, and the ceremonial duties are part of their intrinsic character, it is their means of instilling discipline and duty and teamwork in their troops - ever considered how easy it is to get a bunch of 18 year old inner city lads to stay up all night, every night for weeks bulling leather harnesses? Or how important team work is to coordinate the complex ceremonies. The immense sense of pride felt when they play an important part in such an event is part and parcel of what makes them a cohesive fighting unit in stressful combat. I don't suppose parading horses is a significantly more costly an activity than driving around Salisbury plains in tanks or IFVs or building tipods with pine-poles.
I know we're broke, but any civilized country needs to retain a little bit of heritage. Get rid of govt-sponsored arts programmes before BBMF or cavalry. The Reds now - what are they for? Last time I checked we hadn't been short of pilot applicants since forever. Jehovah!
Sign young aircrew up for 20-25 years and not pay £100,000 retenson bonus.
Isn't it retention?
But yes, agreed.
Allow NCO Pilots and Navs.
Don't really see how this saves money - the pay is the same, trg costs must be there or thereabouts the same... If anything, writing the paperwork for it is going to be a pain in the backside and cost money, then you'd need to build more Sgts' Messes to cope?
Get rid of flying pay if you elect to take a ground job or are not able to fly.
Isn't that the current case? IIRC if you volunteer for a second desk job after being stitched for one, you lose the money - and same if you are perma-downgraded?
Reduce the number of deployable HQs, and EAWs that do not acually go anywhere.
Yep, fully agree - looks great on paper, pointless in reality in my experience.
Perhaps the 100 year experiment should end soon. Perhaps the RAF the worlds first independant Air Force should be the first to dispand.
Disband? Guess you're in the AAC or the 'boat people'? Again, surely this will COST money in the short-term, and I'm not sure if it saves money in the long term.
Crack on
Isn't it retention?
But yes, agreed.Allow NCO Pilots and Navs.
Don't really see how this saves money - the pay is the same, trg costs must be there or thereabouts the same... If anything, writing the paperwork for it is going to be a pain in the backside and cost money, then you'd need to build more Sgts' Messes to cope?
Get rid of flying pay if you elect to take a ground job or are not able to fly.
Isn't that the current case? IIRC if you volunteer for a second desk job after being stitched for one, you lose the money - and same if you are perma-downgraded?
Reduce the number of deployable HQs, and EAWs that do not acually go anywhere.
Yep, fully agree - looks great on paper, pointless in reality in my experience.
Perhaps the 100 year experiment should end soon. Perhaps the RAF the worlds first independant Air Force should be the first to dispand.
Disband?
Guess you're in the AAC or the 'boat people'? Again, surely this will COST money in the short-term, and I'm not sure if it saves money in the long term. Crack on
How does £25,000 for 6 dog kennels grab you? For serving personnel to keep private pets in during the working day. Within the last 18 months, and I'm not joking.
Generally there is nothing in the UK Armef Forces left to 'cut'. So all this robbing Peter to pay Paul internecine cr@p needs to stop. Of course we should still have ceremonial duties outside Buck House and the Andrew should still spread British influence and pink gin around the world with their cockersPs, just as we taxpayers are still happy to pay for the BBMF and the Reds.
Expensive modernist oil paintings in the mad MoD-box are most certainly inappropriate, however.
Last edited by BEagle; 30th Jun 2010 at 15:35.
Money from 'quality of life' budget.
Precisely where are these pooch palaces to be built?
Name and shame!!
Hopefully the lurking journos will have a field day with this one....
Name and shame!!
Hopefully the lurking journos will have a field day with this one....
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Vev, only went to page 2 to say that - foiled!! the big 4 hey???
I say get a proper contractor for SLA, apparently £60k plus for one SLA bedspace!!!!!!!!!!!! Vev???
I say get a proper contractor for SLA, apparently £60k plus for one SLA bedspace!!!!!!!!!!!! Vev???
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Exactly.....the MOD already has Super Lynx so its a bit too late for that.
But why do we need a Puma HC Mk 2...? Lets bin that project.... Withdraw the Puma Mk 1 from Service and maintain the Merlin and Chinook. If the RAF were to keep Merlin and Chinook then why bother with a Puma?
I do think that the Wildcat project is looking very iffy though....we should save the money andf upgreade the existing aircraft to the Mk9a standard....
But why do we need a Puma HC Mk 2...? Lets bin that project.... Withdraw the Puma Mk 1 from Service and maintain the Merlin and Chinook. If the RAF were to keep Merlin and Chinook then why bother with a Puma?
I do think that the Wildcat project is looking very iffy though....we should save the money andf upgreade the existing aircraft to the Mk9a standard....
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Theprior,
+1.
The government are looking at outsourcing to open source, if anyone has used openBSD, redhat etc or the like, many OS's out there provide software with better security and UI than windoze.
Oh, the servers are free too. Agree with the Ped Flt idea.
+1.
The government are looking at outsourcing to open source, if anyone has used openBSD, redhat etc or the like, many OS's out there provide software with better security and UI than windoze.
Oh, the servers are free too. Agree with the Ped Flt idea.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
And use cash saved there to contract the gym out to Fitness First or the like. Let them sell limited numbers of membership to Joe Public too.
The non-Public gym at Coningsby worked very well. Lots of people were prepeared to pay to use the facilities depsite the free gym palace nearby - wonder why?
The non-Public gym at Coningsby worked very well. Lots of people were prepeared to pay to use the facilities depsite the free gym palace nearby - wonder why?