T'graph: "Admiral Lord West: 'The Big Lie Of The Defence Funding 'Black Hole'"

The big lie of the defence funding 'black hole' - Telegraph

 

No surprises here. In June 2008, I posted this on ARRSE under the pen name I use over there:

Gordon Brown Orders Defence Delays to Plug £2bn Hole
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Sadly, things deteriorated even more during the following few years with ever more PFI deals (crushingly mortgaging the MoD well into the future), further deferment of equipment delivery dates (thus raising costs) and slashing of numbers (thus increasing unit costs).

 

Sadly another talking head who should have made his point whilst still in uniform not when the pension/honours/titles were secured.

The Armed forces as a whole have been dealt a greivious harm by toadying 4 and 5 star ranks who suddenly find a backbone when they retire.

 

Blobs - Fair comment but what makes you think he didn't in private? I know there were some pretty explosive meetings at high level but, when a public servant is told to get back in his box by the elected government of the day, there is only so much he can achieve.

As for resigning, Admiral Sir John David Luce GCB, DSO* resigned as First Sea Lord in 1966 along with Navy Minister Christopher Mayhew in protest over the decision by Denis Healey, the Labour Secretary of State for Defence, to cancel the CVA-01 aircraft carrier programme. It didn't make a blind bit of difference. The RN lost one of its best men and was penalised by the Government for not 'toeing the line' for many years afterwards.

 

The notion that pensions are conditional on kissing the SoS's arrse or that of his lesser ministers is misplaced. Admiral West was already a knight when he became 1SL, the peerage was a post service enabler to get him into Bliar's cabinet. Only ex Chiefs of the Defence Staff can expect to be ennobled and Admiral Boyce didn't dip out for doing his own thing on behalf of HMAF prior to TELIC.

And another thing. Banjo remains on the Active List and will still be there tomorrow despite gobbing off.

 

I hear you NG, the sad thing, nay, criminal thing is the MOD when it pulls out of Afganistan will be left with a legacy bill to pay due to being under funded and under equipt when sent in by the Govt in the firtst place. The same Govt will want it's money back and expect the forces to re-train, re-focus for a new and current threat with a budget that includes paying back all the immidiate gizits they've had in advance. On the plus side, whenever we next go to war the lads will have extensive if sparodic training on the kit we'll use because what evers on the shelf now will still be there in 30 years time, I cant see the MOD having the money to move with the times so, todays primary school kids will probably be whinging that their children are being killed whilst serving in the military because they have to use obselete equiptment.