10 Downing St Plan To Cut RAF By 50%
While I could be accused of thread drift I feel that I must correct some of the figures supplied by DITYIWAHP in post 32.
The size of the UK national debt is not £585.3 billion, as provided by Wolfram Alpha (whoever they are?).
As the following link shows...
National Statistics Online - UK Government Debt & Deficit
The size of the UK national debt is now over £1100 billion and increasing.
(I can post other links to confirm this if required)
The previous Labour government had a plan to half the deficit in 5 years, but this was the annual deficit, i.e. borrowings. So by 2015 they would have only being borrowing some £60-70 billion a year, but by which time the overall debt would have risen to some £1500-1600 billion, and still be rising.
The size of the UK national debt is not £585.3 billion, as provided by Wolfram Alpha (whoever they are?).
As the following link shows...
National Statistics Online - UK Government Debt & Deficit
The size of the UK national debt is now over £1100 billion and increasing.
(I can post other links to confirm this if required)
The previous Labour government had a plan to half the deficit in 5 years, but this was the annual deficit, i.e. borrowings. So by 2015 they would have only being borrowing some £60-70 billion a year, but by which time the overall debt would have risen to some £1500-1600 billion, and still be rising.
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Correct. Alas, the bond market would have dropped us quicker than a prozzie with clap if we were still spending 10% of GDP in 5 years time. Why would pimco invest in a country that has no intent in repaying its loans?
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I have given up looking for any "news" - all you read is speculation, dreams, crap!
I recommend anyone who wants a future to get out now. Then, like me, you will not care.
Cameron will be remembered for the exact opposite of Churchill, Thatcher etc!
I recommend anyone who wants a future to get out now. Then, like me, you will not care.
Cameron will be remembered for the exact opposite of Churchill, Thatcher etc!
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Whilst I can't see a 50% cut in the RAF or the RN going through, as noted, it will be one of many 'nuclear' options being thrashed out. Unfortunately, whilst the 'nuclear' option might not be taken, that doesn't mean to say that the sub-nuclear option won't be taken with a view to then making it seem like we got off lightly.
Then again, the question of viability and numbers does come into it; it you chop the RAF and RN by 50%, both services will be combat non-effective, a bit like Belgium, and you are then into the realm of us becoming a heavily armed 21st century Home Guard; that probably sits well with the Europhiles, but would make us a laughing stock (even more so) with the US military and would no doubt breach our requirement for a minimum proportion of GDP to be spent on defence for NATO purposes. If UK defence goes down the tubes, that will have significant implications within NATO, and I really can't see Cameron wanting to be the man to go down in history as achieving what the Soviets spent half a century trying to achieve. Even Cameron isn't that big a muppet.
So is it all bluster? Probably. Is it worrying? Definitely. As Jimlad suggested, from a light blue political perspective, there are worryingly close links between the Army and Cameron through Dannatt and members of his family. Then again, given Jock's performance as CDS, maybe Cameron considers the RAF to be too close to Noo Labour and as such we have be tarred with our own brush and thus ripe for the chop.
Then again, the question of viability and numbers does come into it; it you chop the RAF and RN by 50%, both services will be combat non-effective, a bit like Belgium, and you are then into the realm of us becoming a heavily armed 21st century Home Guard; that probably sits well with the Europhiles, but would make us a laughing stock (even more so) with the US military and would no doubt breach our requirement for a minimum proportion of GDP to be spent on defence for NATO purposes. If UK defence goes down the tubes, that will have significant implications within NATO, and I really can't see Cameron wanting to be the man to go down in history as achieving what the Soviets spent half a century trying to achieve. Even Cameron isn't that big a muppet.
So is it all bluster? Probably. Is it worrying? Definitely. As Jimlad suggested, from a light blue political perspective, there are worryingly close links between the Army and Cameron through Dannatt and members of his family. Then again, given Jock's performance as CDS, maybe Cameron considers the RAF to be too close to Noo Labour and as such we have be tarred with our own brush and thus ripe for the chop.
History appears to have taught us little:
The UK has historically never had a large standing army.
Large standing armies are expesnive and inefficient.
Better off having a power projection capability based on maritime ground forces.
The point about MRBs is spot on, they have been talking of FAS and FAS next steps for years without very little progress. Could easily reduce Land Forces to 3 MRBs and create another Cdo Bde. They say the arms plot, moving of units between brigades, has stopped which is completely untrue and continues to be wasteful to the tune of £8-10 million per unit.
They are now an organisation with no form (structure that is fit for purpose) and soon to be no function. There is only so long they can claim things are Defence best practise........
The UK has historically never had a large standing army.
Large standing armies are expesnive and inefficient.
Better off having a power projection capability based on maritime ground forces.
The point about MRBs is spot on, they have been talking of FAS and FAS next steps for years without very little progress. Could easily reduce Land Forces to 3 MRBs and create another Cdo Bde. They say the arms plot, moving of units between brigades, has stopped which is completely untrue and continues to be wasteful to the tune of £8-10 million per unit.
They are now an organisation with no form (structure that is fit for purpose) and soon to be no function. There is only so long they can claim things are Defence best practise........
I just sincerely hope that it is PR11/12 nuclear option bluster or ill informed press invention. Any politician of any flavour that would countenance such an unbalanced set up should be immediately disqualified from ever holding public office. I've rarely seen anything so stupid in all my born days.
Widger – some good points but “an economic situation worse than Greece” is a slight exaggeration (maybe that was your intent – I’m getting too old to pick up on these nuances)....
Anyway, you got me thinking: and it all depends on whether you are concerned about how much each person in your country has to work to pay off the debt or if the total debt figure is all that matters. All amounts are UK pounds sterling (data from Wolfram Alpha):
UK:
National debt: £585.3 billion
Debt per head of population: £9450
(Population 61.9 million)
Greece:
National debt: £148.5 billion
Debt per head of population: £13250
(Population 11.2 million)
Thus by inspecting the back of my yellow sticky (no cigarette packets to hand) I work out that the Greek tax payers will have to pay approx 40% more tax than their UK counterparts (ignoring employment rate variations etc). Ouch!
Anyway, you got me thinking: and it all depends on whether you are concerned about how much each person in your country has to work to pay off the debt or if the total debt figure is all that matters. All amounts are UK pounds sterling (data from Wolfram Alpha):
UK:
National debt: £585.3 billion
Debt per head of population: £9450
(Population 61.9 million)
Greece:
National debt: £148.5 billion
Debt per head of population: £13250
(Population 11.2 million)
Thus by inspecting the back of my yellow sticky (no cigarette packets to hand) I work out that the Greek tax payers will have to pay approx 40% more tax than their UK counterparts (ignoring employment rate variations etc). Ouch!
Three words.
Joint Helicopter Command.
You know the rest!!
Joint Helicopter Command.
You know the rest!!
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Why are we still buying the Typhoon if the RAF is getting cut? (and Puma 2)
Sorry, thread drift.................
Sorry, thread drift.................
It may seem like these decisions were made by someone with no idea, and well, they probably were
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Perhaps so Taranis, maybe you're right.
It sickens me as to how short people's memories can be if they can be bought off in such a fashion.
Still, what do I know, eh?
It sickens me as to how short people's memories can be if they can be bought off in such a fashion.
Still, what do I know, eh?
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Short memory or how excessively large some forces were to start with, actually the RN probably don’t fit into that bracket so let’s keep the aircraft carriers………DOHH!!!!!!!
