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SoS Resigns (Dr Fox Gone)

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SoS Resigns (Dr Fox Gone)

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Old 14th Oct 2011, 19:58
  #21 (permalink)  
 
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There was a post on an MSN thread that said something along the lines that

Dr Fox would show himself to be weak in resigning, But Cameron would show himself to be even weaker in not sacking him before he resigned....


End of the day he wasn't responsible for the cuts, simply enforced them..
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Old 14th Oct 2011, 20:10
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Adam Werritty has apparently offered to stay on and help the new Defence Secretary "in any way I can".
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Old 14th Oct 2011, 20:28
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Naaa, I bet he would be a right pain in the arse...........
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Old 14th Oct 2011, 20:28
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Let's face it, no one wants the Defence brief. It's like the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry Potter....no one ever lasts much more than a year.

Poison chalice among politicians. At least Fox was robust with the idiots, even if the cuts were dressed up as a strategic review.
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Old 14th Oct 2011, 20:31
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Let's face it, no one wants the Defence brief
Adam Werritty probably collects them, frames them and hangs them on his wall.........


ohhh you said brief and not briefs....
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Old 14th Oct 2011, 20:36
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Adam Werritty probably collects them, frames them and hangs them on his wall.........
Are you daring to suggest that there was something untoward in the relationship between the ex-Minister & his consort (sorry, friend)? Wash your mouth out!
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Old 14th Oct 2011, 21:05
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At least he won't have to keep a pretence of service impartiality any more. He can go back to being a brown job!

CG
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Old 14th Oct 2011, 21:33
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at least non-one has suggested that he's been having a hard time recently
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Old 14th Oct 2011, 21:55
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I'm sure he'd rather be on gardening leave (of some sort).
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Old 14th Oct 2011, 22:47
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If it's not too late for contenders I would like to Propose Mr Clarkson for the job. By that I mean Jeremy, not any politician by that name.

Could be interesting in question time....
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Old 14th Oct 2011, 23:12
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Why not a return for Boris Johnson, the most belligerent man in the UK?
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Old 14th Oct 2011, 23:20
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Real shame. The first SoS in a long long time that actually wanted to be at the MoD, understood the brief and, as a previous poster has said, wanted to make a difference. He was unfortunately handed a whole load of cr@p from his predecessor and was indeed left holding the baby.

Phil Hammond is another good man but has also just overseen a 20% cut in staff at the DfT.

Shame about the gloating and the homophobic jokes because the MoD has lost a good man today!
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Old 15th Oct 2011, 06:19
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Post-service I worked behind the scenes in Westminster. In my view Fox could have and should have fought a great deal harder to protect the RAF and RN from cuts. Unfortunately we just don't have real blood and guts politicians these days - just PC people everywhere.

In my view, we don't need that much of an army - just Special Forces. But we do need an Air Force and a Navy. We don't need to be in Afghanistan and should be out of there yesterday - its eating far too much scarce cash that we could better use in re-equiping the Air Force and Navy.

Libya should tell us our likely future needs.
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Old 15th Oct 2011, 06:31
  #34 (permalink)  
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A real shame. The best SoS for Defence in a very, very long time. And, at least he had some experience of working with the military. Hammond does seem like a good chap for the job but let's wait and see.
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Old 15th Oct 2011, 06:31
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Fox,Letwin good riddance how did they ever get to their positions. What a load of idiots supposed to be running the country. More heads should roll . Cameron get a grip !
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Old 15th Oct 2011, 07:32
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I think this is sad, but inevitable. He should have learned his lesson.

He was caught dissembling to Parliament when he announced the Mull of Kintyre verdict (saying CHART only applied to Mk1 etc). He was asked no less than 3 times on the day and many times in subsequent correspondence, but stuck to the MoD briefing until relenting a couple of weeks ago. Too late, as the aim was achieved - protect VSOs.

When Labour MP Jim Mann asked him about trips with his mate, he adopted the same weasel word approach, not directly answering the question. "I didn't travel with him to (wherever)". Strictly speaking true, but not answering the question. The dissembling was a red rag to red Jim. (Who conveniently ignores that his own party's Ministers, and indeed most politicians, dissembled like this on a daily basis). Again, his officials were involved, because surely they should have advised him correctly?

Hoisted and petard comes to mind. It is too much to ask, but when oh when will they learn to tell the truth. Their lies always point to the truth in the end. MoK being a case in point.

But what concerns me most is that an otherwise really quite good SoS is gone, to be replaced by a Treasury puppet (watch out for the cuts Fox prevented being resurrected) yet the serial liars who brief Ministers remain. As Fox breached the Ministerial Code, so too have they breached the Civil Service Code - the two are closely aligned. Why are these people not sacked or pushed out? Because the investigations are carried out by their own - in this case, Brennan and O'Donnell.

Stinks I'm afraid. But I'd be happier seeing Fox make a comeback than I was about Mandelson.
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Old 15th Oct 2011, 07:42
  #37 (permalink)  
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Originally Posted by tucumseh
adopted the same weasel word approach, not directly answering the question.
It was ever thus. I recall having an item in Private Eye drawn to my attention.

The PQ was "How many cases of smallpox have there been in UK between . . . "

The answer was "There have been no cases of smallpox in the indigenous population since . . . "

Private Eye then translated to:

"There have been cases of smallpox amongst the immigrant population."

They are just expert at answering the question they want to answer and not the question they have been asked.

Yesterday Malcolm Rifkind was asked if he would accept the position of SoS. He responded that he had been SoS and that he had no wish to be SoS again. He NEVER said NO.
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Old 15th Oct 2011, 07:47
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For those who think he was doing a good job, or on top of his brief, etc etc, i would like to take issue on two grounds.

First, the so-called defence review was no such thing. It was a mish mash of cost cutting, opportunism and military turf battles. This man presided over it. When interviewed about the outcomes he obfuscates in true political fashion. We can debate the logic of this cost-cutting bodge job for ever and a day, but the oft repeated statement he makes that we have lost no capabilities is a lie...pure and simple.

Second, taking your best mate on 18 business trips is wierd. If the guy is making money of the back of these trips it's corruption. If the guy is having fun at the taxpayers expense it's fraud. If the guy is none of the above and he is not employed by Fox and they are not in realtionship" wtf is he doing there? One or twice maybe...why not. Eighteen times..are you kidding me?

The conclusion I get is..

He is corrupt...

or

He is fraudulent...

or

He is a liar (about his personal life)

or

He is just plain nuts

or

All of the above.

IMHO .....not fit for purpose.
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Old 15th Oct 2011, 08:01
  #39 (permalink)  
 
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I agree with TOFO and we have not heard the last of this affair.

If, as it appears, this mysterious chap was in the employ of defence lobbyists then all hell will descend on the Capability areas of MoD. This particular cuckoo was with the SoS as we went through the most painful and savage cuts for a generation.

A number of major defence contractors who saw their particular cash-cow slashed in SDSR will be reaching for their lawyers Blackberry number to find out if they have a claim against the MoD if a lobbyist funded by others had unfair access and influence over the SoS during such a turbulent defence review. This could cost the MoD dearly and the parsimonious treasury will not come to the rescue if this leads to major payouts and the wider defence budget will probably take the financial pain.

This is not good news for any of us.
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Old 15th Oct 2011, 08:05
  #40 (permalink)  
 
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The MoD may have lost a good man on Friday (I have yet to be convinced); however, he was responsible for the MoD losing 922 good men and women on 1 Sep - with another 4000 to go.

Duncs

Last edited by Duncan D'Sorderlee; 15th Oct 2011 at 08:24.
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