Jeremy Clarkson The Sun 9 Dec 06

Did anybody see Jeremy Clarkson's piece in the Scum on Sat? I'm afraid I have no link to post, but I am sure that it is available on their website. It basically called for a rethink on the provision of healthcare to Servicemen and women returning from Ops.

Whilst I do not believe in a requirement for military hospitals, I do believe that there should be a Service-owned and -manned medical unit big enough and with enough spare capacity to manage Service patients who need long-term rehabilitation and their immediate family. Obviously there is only one place in MOD ownership that could provide this and it is not in Surrey.

 

I do believe in the requirement for military hospitals and was grateful for the treatment I received in Haslar and Woolwich. I believe this esssential policy area (military health) has been neglected, in the round, to the detriment of the defence of the realm. I also believe there should be a veteran's gold card type of system giving retired veterans access to treatment in military hospitals and benefits within the state system.

 

I wholeheartedly agree, but sadly, we have had successive administrations believing that the Defence Establishment can be managed in the same way as commercial business. Once the legions of accountants had finished their demolition job on UK Engineering Industry plc, they were set loose on the MOD.

I believe that politicians should be honest, upright citizens who serve the electorate out of a sense of duty, rather than power-hungry money grabbing leeches; I believe that the civil service should be wholly impartial and non-politicised; I also believe in the tooth fairy and Father Christmas!