I’m sorry to have a go at Cameron two posts in a row, but what on earth does he think he’s on telling the defence chiefs to stop sniping.
Air Chief Marshal Simon Bryant told MPs in a briefing paper, that the intensity of air operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East are placing a huge demand on both people and equipment. He went on to say that morale was low because of overwork. He said that areas of the RAF were “running hot” while the servicemen’s sense that the nation valued their efforts was being undermined by the government’s defence cuts.
And it’s not just Simon Bryant who has spoken out. Last week Admiral Mark Stanhope, who is head of the Navy, said that the current crop of commitment, ie two wars, was unsustainable past September, as Bryant has done.
So today, this illustrious and gallant prime minister, who has been to war, well never, who has not done any active service at all, said that sometimes he woke up in the morning and thought ‘you do the fighting and I’ll do the talking’. I think he’d be better served if he woke up and though... ‘I should clean my teeth and have a shower, and then I’ll work out what to have for breakfast’.
I’d say that in my p
olitical memory, which goes back as far as Mrs Thatcher, I think there has been no one less suited to being prime minister than Mr Cameron. No, Dean, not because he’s a Tory. If it were Annabel Goldie I’d feel a lot safer. And not because he went to public school either. There’s nothing wrong with that if your parents can afford it. It’s about how bloody stupid he is. It’s about how his policies have almost always come back to bite him on the bottom, and how he doesn’t seem to learn. He must be the least competent prime minister ever...even worse than Brown (and just for balance), Brown takes some beating.
However, criticising the armed forces chiefs, who are trying to fight two wars, with an ever decreasing amount of money (remember how he criticised Brown for lack of funds), an ever decreasing troop morale, and a dip stick for a leader, was the stupidest thing I’ve heard him do yet, and yet another one that will certainly come back to haunt him.
How refreshing to see to officers at that level who are prepared to put the men under their command before their pensions and their seat in the Lords.
Air Chief Marshal Simon Bryant told MPs in a briefing paper, that the intensity of air operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East are placing a huge demand on both people and equipment. He went on to say that morale was low because of overwork. He said that areas of the RAF were “running hot” while the servicemen’s sense that the nation valued their efforts was being undermined by the government’s defence cuts.
And it’s not just Simon Bryant who has spoken out. Last week Admiral Mark Stanhope, who is head of the Navy, said that the current crop of commitment, ie two wars, was unsustainable past September, as Bryant has done.
So today, this illustrious and gallant prime minister, who has been to war, well never, who has not done any active service at all, said that sometimes he woke up in the morning and thought ‘you do the fighting and I’ll do the talking’. I think he’d be better served if he woke up and though... ‘I should clean my teeth and have a shower, and then I’ll work out what to have for breakfast’.
I’d say that in my p
olitical memory, which goes back as far as Mrs Thatcher, I think there has been no one less suited to being prime minister than Mr Cameron. No, Dean, not because he’s a Tory. If it were Annabel Goldie I’d feel a lot safer. And not because he went to public school either. There’s nothing wrong with that if your parents can afford it. It’s about how bloody stupid he is. It’s about how his policies have almost always come back to bite him on the bottom, and how he doesn’t seem to learn. He must be the least competent prime minister ever...even worse than Brown (and just for balance), Brown takes some beating.However, criticising the armed forces chiefs, who are trying to fight two wars, with an ever decreasing amount of money (remember how he criticised Brown for lack of funds), an ever decreasing troop morale, and a dip stick for a leader, was the stupidest thing I’ve heard him do yet, and yet another one that will certainly come back to haunt him.
How refreshing to see to officers at that level who are prepared to put the men under their command before their pensions and their seat in the Lords.
Heard the other day that the armed forces were looking for 400 voluntary redundancies and got 900 applications some of which were due for promotion! Follow your leader, no way thank you.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised. The senior people have to spend their time finding cost savings, and the men are off on a sorti wondering if they will have a job this tme next year. That's no way to run a service.
ReplyDeleteI read that a lot of senior officers want out too, which is not strange because presumably they will be offered a package, but IS strange because usually these people LOVE their jobs and have to be retired kicking and screaming.
Honest question to anyone: why are 'we' (as in the taxpayer) paying to ring fence overseas aid to India & her space program when we are cutting our armed forces?
ReplyDeleteIs there an answer which doesn't imply that Cammie is just spinning?
No earthly idea Dean. The words "fur coat and nae knickers" come to mind.
ReplyDeletetris
ReplyDeleteCameron come a bit of an obsession wid youse these days um best watch your self not turning tory are we???
as for those defence chiefy chaps
"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Its the Etonian way old bean!
A new and crackling episode in the adventures of England's Number 1 scoundrel, that bully, liar, and womanizing coward named Flashman(er cameron), whose youthful skulduggery was first revealed in Tom Brown's School Days.
Ole tris knocks on the door of LabourHame and its come in old chap take a seat have cuppy of tea..........Niko(card carrying member of many years standing) rushes up behind him just in time to have LabourHame door slammed firmly in face trapping nose as it shuts Ouch my dose!
ReplyDeleteTruth told there's probably some of everything in me Niko... some Old Labour, some Old Tory, (pre Thatcher), some Liberal (but not the Clegg sort) and a huge desire to see my country ruled from Edinburgh, for Scotland, not from London for the South East of England.
ReplyDeleteSo you might call me a mongrel.
And Labour Hame (with its ridiculously patronising name and a wee bit of tartan in its header...aww bless), probably see me as no real threat. A bit of harmless nationalist pap, at the lower end of the nationalist blogosphere... whereas, they see you as a trouble making Ol' Labourite.
Actually, I have no real idea why they put my stuff in when they won't let so many other people comment including their own.
So what do you think of the idea of choosing a leader from the London parliament and hoping he'll be elected in a safe seat for Holyrood?
Why don't they just have that The Honourable Paul Martin, son of the Noble and Right Honourable Baron Martin of Springburn PC...or indeed the Noble and Rt Hon gentleman himself.
They'd show Eck a thing or two.
You don't think they want Tom Harris, do you? He's more of a Tory than most of the Tories.
ReplyDeleteOr Ian Davidson maybe. He could go around shouting "Neo Fascists" in the Chamber, instead of asking the half arsed questions Iain Gray used to.
ReplyDeletetris
ReplyDeletethe problem with LabourHame is they need a opposite view to the one they spectacular got wrong but when they feel threatened they delete it asap............And alls well with the world once again.
I said in my moderated comment
The Labour party at holyrood were a very shallow gene pool and what was the point in electing a loser who would march bravely but stupidly into the Alex Salmond meat Grinder..aint that the truth
and other things but they dont listen and i am 100% right i thinks
Niko: Well there was certainly nothing offensive about that. Labour in Scotland has a problem adn they know it as well as you or I do.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that whatever people's politics they want Scottish decisions to be made in Scotland, and not by Ed Miliband/David Cameron/Nick Clegg in England, but if you have a proper Scottish Labour party (as opposed to a branch of the English one), then it does mean that Ed won't be able to control it, or would he, and would the Scottish Party be a subsidiary of the English one.
You're right about the gene pool in Holyrood. I hope you won’t mind me saying it but none of them is much of a shining star and some are positively dire. Again, because the best people in labour have gone south to the big boys’ parliament where they have the chance (slim) to become international stars.
So do you draft one in from there. It might go down like a lead balloon, even if you can find one up to Eck.
Seriously who have you got? Spud? Tom Harris? Maggie Curren could come back, or Cathy Jamieson, but then it might look like all they cared about was a career and a bigger salary if they keep changing parliaments, adn really they are not that good. Maggie just shouts and gets breathlessly angry, and really so does Cathy. Your best bet was Wendy, but she blew it by falling out with Gordo, and taking election money from outside the UK. At least she was quite clever.
Of course the SNP did it for a while. Eck was leader of the party in London and Nicola did the business in Scotland, so I’m not able to criticise that.
Who would you like to see as leader?