Do you believe Mrs May?
 

I have just read the BBC reported comments by Mrs May. I tried to relate her comments about the "Valiant hearts" of British servicemen and women and how they actively protect the nation and how highly valued they are... But then, I thought about the Armed forces covenant and, the collapse of future pensions, and the overstretch, and the pay freeze and 1% pay cap. :oh:

OAP

Do you believe a politician of any stripe?

Plus ca change -------

She's just sacked Minister for telling lies so she wouldn't lie herself...would she?

Oh yes indeed, say what they want to hear, do it enough times, and they'll start to believe it..

I think the PM has a cheek in particular the handling of the pay, but the thought of Corbyn and Momentum being allowed anywhere near any part of Defence or Intelligence fills me with dread.

I don’t trust any of them. She’s just lucky that her competition are Comrades Corbyn/Mcdonnell/Abbott whom I won’t vote for whilst I still have a hole in my arse. At least you know what you’re getting with Mrs May, I suppose? But you could say the same of the Trumpmeister!!!

I see that M. Macron’s popularity halo has also slipped - falling faster than any French president ever! It is only showing mild signs of recovery this month due again to somewhat weak opposition.

The best Christmas message that I truly believe comes from Gen David Goldfein USAF - the bits in bold shows that he really understands the problem. His problem, like ours but on a far larger scale, is how to fix it:

To all our Airmen standing watch here at home and around the globe to keep us safe, Dawn & I thank you for your service and sacrifice. We know many of you will be working, making the mission happen, when you would likely rather be spending time with loved ones. I wish I could thank each one of you personally.

Our Nation demands a lot of you. Given our high operations tempos, I know you are tired, taxed and feeling the burden of these demands.The work you do is necessary, important and makes a difference. As the service with the most diverse portfolio of missions operating from the outer reaches of space and everywhere in between, Airmen are involved in some way in every mission the joint force performs. You are always there for America and our allies. And, we are grateful. It is my absolute privilege and honor to serve with you.

Coming back to whether or not you can believe Mrs May perhaps it is first apposite to take a quick review of her track record when she was Home Secretary.

As far as I can tell she almost completely b*ggered the police, the prison service and the boarder/immigration service. All of which she cut so drastically as to reduce their efficiency to a degree that has not been seen for decades. However if you listened to her speeches of the time and believed what she said you would come to the conclusion that the opposite was the case.

So in my opinion her past actions speak volumes for her personal integrity. This I find is the most worrying thing about Brexit and fully expect that we stand the risk of being "sold down the river" by her.

Dodgyoldfart hits the nail on the head with regard to TM's track record, she has destroyed the Police Service with what she did when Home Secretary. Today we are seeing officers leaving in their droves, my old force lost a Sergeant and 4 Constables in a single day at one police post this week.

My, my, we are a cynical lot, aren't we.

I listened to the speech in it's entirety, and I do not personally subscribe to the "if the mouth is moving, then the Lady is lying". So I would say this in May's defence. I personally have never heard a sitting PM make a speech directly to the armed forces, without having referenced some other political hot potato in all the years I have been listening. Many PM's have included a piece as part of a larger speech, but I have not heard it as a direct and specific pre-Christmas message. The possible exception may be Maggie after the Falklands, but I did not hear it.

I will also say this since she is my MP. I attended a clinic with the Lady to request her assistance in a matter that had no relevance to me personally, or to my family. She made certain commitments which were not only communicated to relevant departments, but she also ensured that they were fulfilled. There was nothing in it for her but she did it anyway.

I will continue to cut her some slack. Perhaps I may be proved wrong however then the alternative person in the chair is likely not to take such a view of the services and they may become surplus to requirements.

Imagegear

Lost total faith when I watch Cameron on the carrier praise everyone while knowing he was chopping the lot.

Anyway OP, isn't this a song by The Darkness?

No. An awful,awful specimen of humanity, determined to cling on to power at any cost. If you believe this speech was for the ears of our beleaguered armed forces,best consult a pharmacist :E

[quoteNo. An awful,awful specimen of humanity, determined to cling on to power at any cost.][/quote]

True, but the consequences for our future in the long term if she does not remain isn't worth thinking about, at least let them get Brexit out of the way and then boot her into touch

A beleaguered PM has to be grateful to the Armed Services, they are loyal, which is more than can be said of any of her fellow politicians or even the senior bureaucrats.
So an appreciative comment seems very much in the spirit of the season.

Eh?

I thought the carriers were still going ahead. Do you know different?

How can you tell when a politician's lying?

That's when you see their lips move!

They’re all as bad as each other. But looking across the current crop of career politicians of all hues that have left us with a divided, divisive profit at all costs country, where spin beats substance and a quick retort is viewed more highly than a considered response, there’s a fair few of us wondering whether what we are left with after their efforts is actually worth putting lives on the line for.

A point brought home when reading a supposed quality paper online and looking at some of the outrageous comments and ad hominem attacks being casually thrown around; left me thinking that if that is a representation of what I and my colleagues are supposed to be defending, frankly I’d rather not waste the effort on those sorts.

And apparently, an effective £1 per head Christmas tip for the 500 British military currently serving in Afghanistan - or is that fake news in today's Sunday Times ?

I don't read the ST as it's behind the Dirty Digger's paywall....

However, in other news I see that the new Defence Secretary has stopped a pointless, wasteful £520K 'rebranding' attempt by some daft pongo committee - see Army halts plans to ditch 'Be the Best' slogan - BBC News

It seems that the pongo committee considered 'being the best' to be "dated, elitist and non-inclusive" and that it didn't "resonate with many of our key audiences".

Fortunately Willy thought otherwise and had such nonsense stopped! But not before £520K had been wasted....:ugh:

I was never, in the sense of the word, loyal to any bunch of politicians. I was loyal to my oppos, my service and to the Crown but not those that often conspired to shaft me, my oppos and my service.

At least new SofS seems to have understood something. To punch above your weight as UK does you have to "be the best", elitist is good, very good

I'm told by a colleague who attended the 'Millies Awards' event last week that the only comment the PM had to make, concerned the current government fighting to increase the number of outlets willing to give a 10% discount on goods and services to those with a military ID card! :rolleyes:

Something I mentioned to my Remoaner MP after he recently voted against his party.

Do you speak to him often? If so, could you say thank you on my behalf :p

PS Not a remoaner (seems to be working out quite well so far), just a democrat.

"Be the best" seems to have bit more about it than the below, but really, why do the forces have to have such nonsense to begin with?

https://static1.squarespace.com/stat...g?format=1000w

Roadster

That is so last year...:cool:

https://www.raf.mod.uk/recruitment/m...p-intro-bg.jpg

Innit?

I don't believe her or trust her.

This was the one that did it for me...
http://aviationancestry.co.uk/Humm/S...1979-59481.jpg
...although I should add it took me until 27!

Nice one LJ! I didn't even have 5 O's, my maths was CSE GRADE 1! :eek:

OAP

Surely a CSE Grade One was the equivalent to an O Level GCE Grade C?

Yes, I do understand that was a generally accepted rule. However, it does say "5 good O-levels" etc.....
I wonder how many joined with the bottom level, or lower, qualifications, apart from me? :ok:

Merry Christmas

OAP

Interesting that no A Levels were required!

I left school at 15 with no 'O' or 'A' levels.
When, IIRC, at the age of 22, I applied to the RAF, they required 5 'O' levels.
I could have knocked them off in a couple of months but had to wait for the exams to come around. ISTR I was considered to have maths and one or two others on the basis of post-school engineering qualifications.

The Airways Corporation required 'A' levels but it was clearly demonstrated by the RAF that they were not necessary for pilot training.

Roadster, in those days 4 got you airman aircrew, 5 got you a commission and 2 A levels got you to Cranwell as aircrew or Henlow as ground crew.

No engineers in those days, Technical or Secretarial.

GCEs were only pass/fail, no grades.

As Basil says, what was essential was a minimum educational level and ability. The need was for hundreds of aircrew every year but far fewer destined for command.

Not to her they're not.

There is a reason why the Armed Forces don't swear an Oath of Allegiance to a political entity.

Correct... When I think of half af the spivs we have had in power, they do not inspire trust nor leadership, their only interest is to feed at the trough of plenty.

And it is wrong to assume that anyone in the Services is right wing or Tory supporter. Perhaps the best evidence of that is Lord West a Labour peer. To a lesser extent former CDS tend to be cross benchers which is more the position of the Monarch.