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Defence Minister goes racing.
Just saw this pop up on BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7082833.stm Lord Drayson's job as defence procurement minister job (sic) has gone, on a permanent and paid basis, to Baroness Ann Taylor. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4446978.stm
Paul Drayson is the Labour Party's leading businessman in government. He was made a lord and then the UK defence procurement minister after giving New Labour more than £1m. In 2004 he was the party's largest individual donor. The Money Programme can reveal that he also ran a company which sold faulty TB vaccines and kept quiet about it for 21 months, risking the health of thousands of people. |
He's not the Defence Procurement Minister - it was renamed Defence Equipment & Support and elevated to Minister of State status. (I think this was why Broon could "justify" Broon Mk2 getting the Scotland brief - he had an extra Minister of State. Could be wrong).
One could look at this two ways. As the MoD rarely buy kit now and don't support it properly, what is there for him to do? Following "his" Defence Industrial Strategy and DSTL (sorry, Defence) Technology Strategy (i.e. formalising handouts to BAeS, Thales and QinetiQ) it's a case of job done. Interesting timing, what with the ****storm that may hit MoD when various BoI reports are released. |
Le Mans?
It is worthy of note that he is the only VVIP I ever saw drive himself to Abbey Wood, when most other 2*'s plus had cars and drivers.
The fact that he used to roll up in his own Aston DB9 may have been the reason though....:E |
£1m Yacht ..... £7m Chateux .... But NO Airbuses!
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A number of special circumstances have now presented me with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take my racing to the next level Oh, yeah, sorry...I'll just take myself off and have a word with myself. :mad: |
If you think this is the only reason for him to resign then you are mistaken.
Some of the PR08 measures will hurt DE&S across the board, he is jumping to avoid it. Si |
Some of the PR08 measures will hurt DE&S across the board :cool: TOG |
Ah but.
Lord Drayson, minister, acting, UNPAID. Has resigned. To be replaced by Baroness Ann Taylor, who will be paid for the job. So who will cost more? (Time will tell who is more competent). |
right so Drayson Buggers off to race cars and David Miliband misses a long planned state visit to adopt a kid................Good luck to them
............its not like there's a war on! |
Jump or push?
Intersceptic
Quote: Will this have any impact on current procurement plans (or plans to renege on our various current procurement contracts)? Thoughts? As I understand it (and I'm willing to be corrected) the MOD have been told to 'save' 40% of this year's STP funding, so, has he jumped or was he pushed? Either way we're still scraping around for the basics. |
Well here's a thought;
MoD delay to defence deal sheds light on why minister quit. The Ministry of Defence is to delay a decision on a multi-billion pound contract for a new generation of armoured vehicles after Treasury pressure to drive down the price. An announcement of the MoD's preferred supplier for the contract, Future Rapid Effect System (FRES), was to be made tomorrow and the move to extend the tender process sheds more light on reasons why defence procurement minister Lord Drayson resigned earlier this month. FRES will be the MoD's largest contract, with the original plan to order about 3,000 vehicles worth £10bn over 10 years. The deal's total value, including maintenance and support, would be up to £60bn over the lifetime of the programme. But the Treasury wants the MoD to look again at the bids, and there is talk within the Ministry that the final contract may be for only 700 to 1,500 vehicles. Within the defence industry, the long-delayed FRES had become a byword for the MoD's mishandling of big arms procurements.But in May Lord Drayson pledged in an interview with The Daily Telegraph that a decision on the winning bidder would be made by the end of November. "That is the first time that this department has said a decision will be made at a definite time," Lord Drayson promised. "The department has never done that before. I will keep the department to that. I learned as chief executive of a public company that it was important to do what you say." He added: "Fres is a project that was going round in circles; without clarity and without drive. The department allowed that to happen... It should not have happened." Lord Drayson resigned on November 7, saying he wanted to fulfil a dream of racing in the Le Mans championship. But there has been intense speculation of a bust-up with his boss, the Defence Secretary Des Browne, and also the Treasury. Lord Drayson said in May that getting Fres signed would be a good test of the MoD's Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS), a plan drawn up to help government and industry work in partnership rather than competition. An updated DIS was to be announced this month, but that has also been delayed. Thread Drift Warning: AMBER Interestingly, the additional armour needed by FRES to make it IED survivable has now made it overweight for transport by Herc. It would now need an A400M; http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2963344.ece |
I'm afraid the Times report on FRES is a rehash of the House of Commons Defence Committee report of 21st Feb 2007. Noting that FRES supersedes TRACER and MRAV, the HoCDC said;
The TRACER and MRAV programmes cost a total of £188M (before cancellation). The MoD asserts that the output from these programmes has informed work on FRES, but it is not clear how. The MoD should explain how the work carried out on TRACER and MRAV has contributed to FRES". A very good question, which one hopes the committee asks again............... One assumes the 2007 ISD for Mob, Med, Cmnd and R&R will not now be met. :rolleyes: |
£10 billion for 3,000 vehicles? Somebody is having a giraffe.
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Article in the Torygraph this morning states that the new vehicles for the army will not be able to be deployed on the battlefield because they do not comply with the latest EU emission regulations.
Do they mean lead emissions? |
I thought military lead emissions were encased in copper.
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Maybe they should be bio-ethanol powered like Graysons racer!:}
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Tucomseh
One could look at this two ways. As Brown Mk1 often does. The two-faced tw*t. :ugh: |
I see that Lord Drayson is on his way back to the MoD after Brown’s second wave of musical chairs. Does this mean I can have his place at Le-Mans this coming weekend?
Gordon Brown's reshuffle - full list of appointed ministers - Telegraph |
One "one eye" helping another.
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