Tory supporting paper The Mail on Sunday reports today that Liam Fox’s ministerial team at the Defence Ministry is a hundred per cent behind him in his fight to retain the funding necessary for the armed forces to retain current strength.
It appears that the three Tory ministers, Gerald Howarth, Peter Luff and Andrew Robathan are prepared to walk if Mr Fox doesn’t get his way against George Osborne. (The other ministers in the department are Liberal Nick Harvey and Tory Lord Astor.)
Last month a letter from the Defence Secretary to the Prime Minister, complaining about the draconian cuts, was leaked to the press, possibly with the tacit agreement of some of the ministers. Cameron was said to be furious about the leak and Osborne was incandescent that Fox was going over his head.
Fox at that time was supported by retired and current military chiefs. Now it appears his ministerial team two of whom have military backgrounds, is with him, whereas “a” Conservative MP is quoted as saying that Cameron and Osborne are a different breed of Tory with no connection to
the armed forces.
Of course this is an article in the Mail on Sunday, and as such comes with the health warning “this article may have been written to sensationalise the situation and may have absolutely no connection whatsoever with the truth”. But if it is true, it means either a painful about turn for Osborne, or an embarrassing walk out by the Defence Team. We kind of expected it to be the Unions that were doing the walking out this winter... not ministers.
The trouble, I suppose, is that we are all for the cuts that will affect other people and against the ones that will hurt us. Mr Fox and his team are no different to anyone else in that respect.
It appears that the three Tory ministers, Gerald Howarth, Peter Luff and Andrew Robathan are prepared to walk if Mr Fox doesn’t get his way against George Osborne. (The other ministers in the department are Liberal Nick Harvey and Tory Lord Astor.)
Last month a letter from the Defence Secretary to the Prime Minister, complaining about the draconian cuts, was leaked to the press, possibly with the tacit agreement of some of the ministers. Cameron was said to be furious about the leak and Osborne was incandescent that Fox was going over his head.
Fox at that time was supported by retired and current military chiefs. Now it appears his ministerial team two of whom have military backgrounds, is with him, whereas “a” Conservative MP is quoted as saying that Cameron and Osborne are a different breed of Tory with no connection to
the armed forces.Of course this is an article in the Mail on Sunday, and as such comes with the health warning “this article may have been written to sensationalise the situation and may have absolutely no connection whatsoever with the truth”. But if it is true, it means either a painful about turn for Osborne, or an embarrassing walk out by the Defence Team. We kind of expected it to be the Unions that were doing the walking out this winter... not ministers.
The trouble, I suppose, is that we are all for the cuts that will affect other people and against the ones that will hurt us. Mr Fox and his team are no different to anyone else in that respect.
The first cut is always the deepest as they say!
ReplyDeleteand anyway in camerons 'Big society' the armed forces are to be manned by volunteers every Tuesday and Thursday also on the second Saturday of the month.
If the United Kingdom is under attack outside these hours please ring the helpline o800 123456
(based in a call centre in India)
A well Mr Mxyzptlk if Labour hadn't bankrupted the economy and went about invading other countries then we would not have to be making such deep cuts.
ReplyDeleteThen again in Labours big society paedophiles get roaming around scot-free, especially if they are party members and so do mass-murderers in our government who kill their own citizens to justify their warmongering.
Ain't it good here? You are both right.
ReplyDeleteRoll on an independent country and we can run the place OUR way.
There are no divisions in the Tory team - Dr Fox is fighting for his department, and thus is doing his ministerial job.
ReplyDeleteResignations, sensationalist rubbish.
[improved spelling and grammar this time, I know how much it can upset some cybernats!]
“Cybernats” gee we aint heard that for a while. Was that not something made up by Labour when they did not get all their own way on the internet? Now pinched by Tories!
ReplyDeleteI did put that rider on Dean. The Daily Mail is well known for being a red top in a twin set and pearls.
ReplyDeleteBut I take it that you have inside information on how Mr Fox and his team feel.
I'm not sure that spelling and grammar could be said to be monopolised by Scottish Nationalism. I'm sure that it is a priority of Mr Gove's too, as well it should be. :)
Yep Munguin... I've always said you couldn't get a cigarette paper between them...
Tris no question about that both tories of one water or another quite happy to steal each other’s clothes. Don't know why they did not form a coalition between them. But now Tories are lacking originality to such an extent that their poisonous barbs are lifted en bloc from their opponents.
ReplyDeleteThe English are left with little choice Munguin.
ReplyDeleteWe on the other hand have the opportunity to live like other Western Europeans... if only we would take it.
'The English'
ReplyDelete... what?! Like Labour, Tory, LibDem are English movements imposed on Scotland...historical revisionism.
Labour - grew up in the Scottish trade union movement as well as England.
LibDems - for a long time dependent on Scotland to continue to survive as a political movement.
Tory - was the only party to ever command a plural majority of the Scots share of the vote at an election.
Yeh, 'the english' have left 'us' with little choice! [btw, am I not included in this Scottish 'us', 'cos I'm not a cybernat?!
Get lost the lot of you.
Dean
Rubbish Dean - There is no such thing as "Scottish" Labour, Lib-Dems or Tories. All funded from England.
ReplyDeleteThe real Scottish Labour party went bust in the 1930s some of them went off to help form the SNP while others went off to join the English Labour party.
If these parties actually became Scottish parties putting Scotland first instead of themselves and their parties then maybe we could make a difference to this country.
Then again that would mean standing on your own two feet as parties and of course you would not want to bite off the hand that feeds you - The unionist parties - the real subsidy junkies in Scotland!
Dean:
ReplyDeleteGo back and read what I wrote, instead of what you thought I wrote.
Juvenile imagination tris it can run amok when so much indocrination has taken place in their upbringing. He should take some lessons from Douglas Carswell who is a Tory who speaks sense a lot of the time.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.talkcarswell.com/show.aspx?id=1616
Carswell is right about the BBC... but we should still be wary of Mr Murdoch and his organsiation for the power it weilds over our politicians, not just because "the Sun wot won it", but also because of teh dossier he keeps on so many of them... and the police... and the royals... and the lords.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt about it. He's an unsavoury influence.
Talking about the BBC I see that Mark Byford has been paid off....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/oct/11/bbc-deputy-mark-byford-exit