General Election 2010 - Conservative Party Armed Forces Manifesto.

Being a great supporter of the Armed Forces (served in the Royal Navy for 16 years) I am very pleased to see the Conservatives (Liam Fox) have launched an Armed Forces Manifesto. Here are some of the key points:

Clear leadership from government. To ensure our personnel have the resources to match their commitments, we will protect the defence budget for 2010-11 and immediately conduct a full Strategic Defence and Security Review, with regular further reviews every four to five years. We will create a National Security Council to which opposition parties will be invited, to build consensus on decision-making. We will maintain a submarine-based nuclear deterrent, based on Trident, to ensure we are protected from nuclear threats in the long term. And we will re-examine the Ministry of Defence (MoD) budget to ensure it is spent wisely.

Equipping our Armed Forces. We will reform procurement to make the system more efficient and ensure that equipment is delivered when our Armed Forces need it at a reasonable cost to the taxpayer. All decisions on defence equipment will be determined by five clear criteria: capability, affordability, adaptability, interoperability, and exportability.

Supporting our servicemen and women. We will establish a tri-Service Military Covenant that will articulate our commitment to the men and women of the Armed Forces. We support our Forces personnel in Afghanistan and remain committed to the necessary operation there, and our strategy will have a clear focus on security and the training of the Afghan National Security Forces. The operational allowance for those serving in Afghanistan will be doubled and we will maximise their rest and recuperation time. We will change the service voting registration rules so Forces personnel do not get disenfranchised due to changes made by Labour, and we will look at changing the law to stop unfair discrimination against personnel.

Supporting our Service families and children. We will work with unit welfare officers and Service charities in providing proper relationship support to our Service families, whom we know can come under huge strain. Service children will get extra support through schools to compensate for the disruptions they experience. And we will provide university and college scholarships for the children of servicemen and women killed on active duty since 1990.

Supporting our veterans. We will offer far better help for Service leavers to settle into civilian life after leaving the Armed Forces. We will establish Britain’s first state-funded post-traumatic stress disorder treatment programme and offer better back-to-work support. We will offer veterans who have undertaken an active tour of service a new route into the teaching profession and we will also pay the university tuition fees of anyone who has undertaken a tour of active service who wants to take a first degree.

Liam Fox renews his call for Gordon Brown to reappear at Chilcot.

We all knew that Gordon Brown was lying to the Chilcot enquiry, I think they even knew, but he went on to repeat his lies in the house of commons. Brown lied to the enquiry, he lied to the parliament and he lied to us. Now that he has had to admit that he lied, Liam Fox has repeated his call for Brown to be dragged back to the enquiry to explain himself. Though how he will explain cutting the defence budget four times while our troops were engaged in several wars is beyond me.

Commenting on his second letter to Sir John Chilcot, renewing his call for the Prime Minister to return to the Iraq Inquiry, Shadow Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox said:

“We’ve had three former defence chiefs, a former Defence Secretary and a former Permanent Secretary say that the defence budget was under enormous pressure as we went to war. Yet the Prime Minister tried to insist that defence spending had risen consistently in real terms so they had everything they needed.

“Now we know that he misled the Inquiry, as well as repeating his false claims to Parliament, the Armed Forces and their families. He must explain why he wilfully repeated false information.

“I wrote to Sir John on the 8th of March to ask that Gordon Brown be recalled to the Iraq Inquiry; his reply indicated that that option had not been ruled out. I have today written to him again to say that yesterday’s admission adds considerable weight to the case for the Prime Minister to be recalled. There can be no excuse to avoid it.”

What Gordon Brown has done is unforgivable, and he has shown beyond doubt that he is unfit to be our Prime Minister.

New 2010 General Election Poster. Gordon Brown, More faces than Big Ben.

Gordon Brown sunk to a new lows this week (if that is possible). Calling our Generals liars over Defence funding is a disgrace, but to then fly out to Afghanistan for a photo op with the troops is beneath contempt. I hope the people get rid of this despicable man.

Gurkha settlement - The government's dishonourable discharge.

How long have we (the public) been asking for a fair deal for our Gurkha veterans? I could list all sorts of stories, I could mention the medals won, the numbers dead, the injuries, the dedication, the service. But would I be wasting my time? this government just don't get it do they? For God's sake, they don't even support our troops who are fighting for us now, never mind our veterans. I don't know whether it is better to tell people to wait until we have a Conservative government to get this sorted once and for all. Brown it seems, just does not care.

There is a petition you can sign, but I don't hold any hope in Gordon Brown giving a damn no matter how many people sign it.

Click HERE to sign up.

We promised to remember them - but do we?

James Hulme of the Telegraph has highlighted the the row brewing over the remembrance of Georgie Sparks. Royal Marine Georgie died last November, aged just nineteen, whilst serving his (our) country in Afghanistan.

James says:

Events since his death say much about how as a country we do not do enough to commemorate the names and achievements of young men and women who make the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the nation.

Georgie’s family are currently embroiled in a battle with their local town and district councils over plans to honour him by naming a local children’s playground, a place where he himself played as a child, in his name. Elements of the town council have approved and then withdrawn their support , leading to unedifying claims and counter-claims between both councils and Georgie’s family, as well as the local community. The issue not only does nothing for the reputation of local government but more importantly highlights the often half-hearted way in which we as nation recognise the contribution of our armed forces involved in current conflicts.

Whilst towns and cities around the country will remember those servicemen and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan on Remembrance Day and on war memorials, it should not be beyond the capability of local authorities to develop new ways of honouring service. Whilst some councils have offered services of remembrance or given service medals, a more lasting tribute would be to embed the names of fallen soldiers to public places at the heart of their communities.

Such commemorations would not glory in war or human suffering but offer a quiet thank you to those who endure unimaginable pressure and difficulties in the name of serving their country. It might also allow grieving families a permanent recognition that their loved one’s sacrifices have been properly recognised.

According to the Epping Forrest Guardian:

EPPING town council will be discussing the re-naming of Stonards Hill play area at their meeting this evening, but has yet again banned members of the press and public.

Councillors have faced huge public opposition after they decided to reject Mayor Ben Murphy's offer to re-name the park after Epping's fallen Royal Marine Georgie Sparks.

But they still refuse to allow other people to attend their meeting, stating that the discussion is confidential.

Georgie's friends and colleagues will be protesting against the council's decision in Epping this evening, outside St John's church at 7.30pm.

I think Epping town council have forgotten just who it is they work for.

I'm all for this form of dedication. When kids ask their parents why their play area is called Georgie Sparks, he will be remembered. I think we also need to increase public awareness that Remembrance Day is not just for remembering the fallen of past wars, but to remember those who are falling today.

David Cameron visits our troops in Afghanistan - video.

From webcameron:

Our troops in Afghanistan are doing some incredible things in really difficult conditions - but we need to do more to help them and their families. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 days to get home, and we believe that their leave shouldn't start until the moment they set foot on British soil.

Petition - Create a dedicated Military & Veterans Hospital

I received this email today:

Hello All,

I wonder if you can help? We are trying to assist with a petition to the UK Government to create a dedicated Military & Veterans Hospital within the UK.

To give you some background, 2 Para have already sent back over 50 casualties to the UK from their current tour alone. Selly Oak, the only military dedicated ward in the UK, cannot accommodate anywhere near this number, so when all of the casualties from other battle groups are added to the figure, how is ONE ward in an NHS hospital going to cope? In truth it cannot !!!! The individual troops are sent home to recover, relying on NHS and the visiting services available, which themselves are over committed. More names are needed for this petition, and quite cynically, 'Downing Street' has put a time limit of one month for this to be achieved. Sign now and do what you can. Please click the link below to sign, you will receive and email to confirm your signature.

We need as many people as possible to sign this petition before 14th August. Could you also if in agreement please pass this on to as many people as possible and ask them to do the same thing?

Lets all send a 'LOUD' message to London!!

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Wounded

Being ex-military I cannot endorse this petition enough. Please find the time to sign it.

Cheers

Steve

Gordon Brown - More faces than Big Ben's clock tower. (Troop withdrawal from Iraq)

Speaking from Iraq today, Gordon Brown said: "It is certainly our intention that we reduce troop numbers, but I am not going to give an artificial timetable at the moment."

Since when did it become Brown's policy not to give an artificial timetable?

In 2007 at a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, Brown said: ''By Christmas, 1,000 of our troops can be brought back to the U.K. They have acted with great courage and bravery.'' As we learned shortly afterwards, Brown's statement was about as artificial as it gets.

I think Liam Fox described the situation quite well:

"Does this man have no shame? Once you read the small print you realise we are back to the same old spin. Five hundred of these troops have already been announced and 270 are back in the UK. "This is a cynical exploitation of our Armed Forces by a prime minister who puts the Labour Party's interests before the national interest."

As Iain Dale points out, Brown doesn't want to give an artificial timetable because: "there's not an election in the offing now, is there?"

Top Secret documents left on a train. Ooops.

Just as Gordon Brown wins on 42 days, the BBC reports that Top Secret documents containing the latest government intelligence on al-Qaeda and Iraqui security services have been left on a train. Ooops.

From the BBC:

The documents belonged to a very senior intelligence official working in the Cabinet Office. A passenger on the train from Waterloo in London to Surrey spotted an envelope the papers were in abandoned on a seat and handed the documents to the BBC. A full-scale search for them had been launched by the Metropolitan Police. Just seven pages long but classified as "UK Top Secret", the latest government intelligence assessment on al-Qaeda is so sensitive that every document is numbered and marked "for UK/US/Canadian and Australian eyes only", BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said. However, it appears that in a serious breach of the rules, according to our correspondent, the document was taken out of Whitehall and left on a train on Tuesday. 'Damning assessment' When a fellow passenger saw the material inside, which included a top-secret and in some places "damning" assessment of Iraq's security forces, they handed it in to the BBC.

I think the right term for this situation would be: Gordon Brown has found a fiver - only to find out that he's lost a tenner.

Defenceless Royal Navy Destroyers - No Sea Dart missiles

Having served in the Royal Navy for sixteen years I find difficult to express the shame I feel after reading this article. No matter what excuses may come from the Navy or the MOD, this is totally unacceptable and downright disgusting for what was once a great maritime nation.

That HMS Exeter and HMS Southampton can sail without their missile systems operable (to save money!) brings shame to the Royal Navy and to the United Kingdom.

You cannot believe how angry I am right now.

Teachers vote to keep Army "Propaganda" out of School.

Paul McGarr, a teacher from east London, is in my opinion, a tw*t. Speaking at the National Union of Teachers conference, this is what he believes Army recruiting materials handed out to school kids should say:

"Join the Army and we will send you to carry out the imperialist occupation of other people's countries".

"Join the Army and we will send you to bomb, shoot and possibly torture fellow human beings in other countries.

"Join the Army and we will send you probably poorly equipped into situations where people will try to shoot or kill you because you are occupying other people's countries.

"Join the Army, and if you survive and come home, possibly injured or mentally damaged, you and your family will be shabbily treated."

I can agree with the last one, the first three however are typical simpering from an ar*ehole who would not be able to spew out such crap if we did not have a martial tradition in this country.

David Cameron's Military Covenant Commission.

David Cameron held a press conference this morning to announce the launch of Commission to look at ways of restoring the Military Covenant, the special agreement between the Armed Forces and the Nation. Being an ex-serviceman this is a subject close to my heart and I can assure you that the covenant has been broken. David Cameron said:

"Over the decades, our Armed Forces have fully honoured their part in the Military Covenant. It is time that we as a nation think about how we can better fulfil our side of the deal."

If you feel that you have something to add to the commission, they are asking that you do just that. To play a part in mending the covenant please click on the banner above and then click on the "Your views" tab.

Gordon Brown escapes attack on Iraq visit.

According to news sources coming out of Iraq, Gordon Brown escaped several "very determined" attempts on his life during his recent visit to Iraq. It is reported that the Prime Minister came under attack from small arms fire, rockets and mortars. An MOD spokesman said that the PM was extremely lucky to survive such a vicious and sustained assault.

The five former defence chiefs who criticised Gordon Brown over his funding of our Armed Forces, and his appointment of two jobs Browne issued the following statement:

"The fact that Gordon Brown has escaped Iraq unscathed only reinforces our opinion that the weapons issued to British forces fighting in Iraq are not fit for purpose."

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

David Cameron brings back Patrick Mercer as forces welfare advisor.

Tory MP Patrick Mercer has been asked to come back into the Conservative party fold. He will advise how the treatment of our troops and their families can be improved. Patrick will be reporting to Shadow Defence Secretary Liam Fox who is preparing a report outlining Tory proposals for armed forces welfare.

Patrick said: "On the back of the criticism of the Government's handling of defence issues, it's become clear the military covenant is seriously broken. "If your husband's somewhere in Helmand province, you don't want to meet drug dealers and the like living in old married quarters adjacent to your family."

Patrick Mercer, being a very popular former commanding officer of the Sherwood Foresters is an excellent choice for the position,

Gordon Brown and Des Browne fall out over defence spending.

You've heard the one about how copper wire was invented haven't you? Well it seems that Gordon Brown and Des Browne are reenacting the old joke. Des Browne is reported to have tried (and failed) to get Gordon's permission to release an extra £1 billion from the treasury to spend on defence. According to The Independent on Sunday, Des Browne was told not to trouble his boss with further concerns over the defence budget.

Full Story HERE

General Lord Guthrie - Our defence has been underfunded for years.

I've just had the pleasure of reading General Lord Guthrie's excellent article on the Telegraph website. The article is entitled: "Our defence has been underfunded for years." Lord Guthrie makes it very clear that unless funding is immediately increased to our Armed Forces, we could see them seriously damaged for some time to come. Here is a small extract of the Generals article:

Lately, ministers have been boasting about the extra money that has been produced for defence, but whatever has happened, it is woefully inadequate as far as running the Services today is concerned. It is not a matter for self-congratulation.
We find ourselves in a very dangerous world at the moment. Long gone are the days when we could remain safe in our own country, isolated from troubles elsewhere.
If the Government is really serious about defence and security, as the Prime Minister clearly said last week, funding must be properly increased or the Government will seriously damage one of the state's greatest assets beyond quick repair.

You can read the full article by clicking HERE. Please take time to read the comments section, they are as insightful as the article itself.

Former defence chiefs attack Gordon Brown - Video of the Lords debate.

You can click HERE watch a video of the Lords debate that saw five ex-chiefs of staff attack Gordon Brown for inadequate MoD funding levels and the appointment of "two hats" Des Browne. The Defence Secretary hit back saying: "I will put my record in relation to both commitment and delivery up against anyone's. "Tell me what it is that a secretary of state for defence should be doing, that I am not doing... This is not an issue that has ever been raised with me by any serving soldier when I have been in an operational theatre. "I'm not that long back from Iraq ... I found the morale of our troops in the operating base in Basra is as high as it could be."

And if you believe that, you will believe anything. Is he so stupid that he thinks morale is high in our Armed Forces, or does he believe that we are stupid enough to believe Labours continual stream of codswallop?

'The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war,no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation'' --George Washington--

Lords debate: Gordon Brown shows disinterest and contempt for Armed Forces.

Further to my earlier post: Why are our Armed Forces nearly 7,000 personnel under-strength?, it seems that several very senior ex-servicemen are more than a little disgusted with Gordon Brown's treatment of our Armed Forces. In a Lords debate, Admiral Lord Boyce said of the decision to give Mr Browne a combined role: "It is seen as an insult by our sailors, our soldiers and our airmen on the front line. "And I know because I have reason to speak to them a lot. And it is certainly a demonstration of the disinterest and some might say contempt that the prime minister and his government has for our armed forces. "And it shows an appalling lack of judgement at a time when our people are being killed and they are being maimed."

Lord Guthrie said: "In my experience... he was a most unsympathetic chancellor of the exchequer as far as defence was concerned - and the only senior Cabinet minister who avoided coming to the Ministry of Defence to be briefed by our staff on our problems." And I think really that he must take much of the blame for the very serious situation we find the services in today."

It does seem as if our Armed Forces, and the situations they are engaged in are of little consequence to Gordon Brown.

Full Story HERE

Why are our Armed Forces nearly 7,000 personnel under-strength?

Figures released today show that the Armed Forces are nearly 7,000 personnel under-strength. The Army alone is under-manned by 3,600. Shadow Defence Minister, Dr Andrew Murrison said: "With troops engaged in two major conflicts these figures are extremely worrying. Labour has broken the military covenant, so more of our trained personnel are leaving, resulting in under-manning and overstretch particularly in key specialist units."Brown and Browne must admit that the Army is too small for the commitments they have entered into."We need a full Defence Review and a full-time Defence Secretary."

As I understand it, the defence budget for 2005/6 was about 2.5 per cent of the GDP (around £32 billion), this compares to 4.4 per cent in 1987/88. That puts the UK's spending on its overstretched armed forces behind that of Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey.

A Government spokesman claimed that the defence budget had increased in real terms since 2000. "Real Terms" - what exactly does that mean? well the same spokesman said: "Although the defence budget has declined as a proportion of GDP since the height of the Cold War, the defence budget has actually been increasing in real terms and it is simply that GDP has risen more quickly." What this means to me is that the government has failed to invest in our Armed Forces when the GDP was high. How have we failed to strengthen our forces during a time of plenty (according to Gordon Brown), when they are fighting at a level not seen since the Korean war?

We have less soldiers now than we did back in 1997, the Royal Air Force offensive squadrons have been cut from 16 to 11, and the Navy has lost eight destroyers and six frigates. I was in the Navy and I would not rejoin if they offered to treble my pay. The Armed Forces have become a dangerous place to be right now - not because of the enemies they face, but because of the way they are being treated by their own government. We may still have the best trained troops in the world, but you can't charge tanks on horseback.

And Labour say the EU will not be a Super State? (Milibands EU army).

Today David Miliband called the EU a military and economic power and that it should use it's collective clout on the world stage. The first thing that jumped into my mind was "Super State." This is not what I and many others believed the EU was to be all about. Miliband is talking about the EU as if it was one single state, and he wants the EU to have its own army so it can use the: "hard power of sanctions and troops to bring about changes in places like Darfur". That's a worthy sentiment, but it is not the job of the EU.

We are going to lose our sovereignty to the EU when Gordon Brown signs the treaty and sells us down the river. I'm more sure than ever that the leaders of the EU want to create a super state to rival other powerful nations. I can't help feeling nervous about this idea of handing over our military to be used at the will of foreign governments. In recent times we have not been able to agree on what military action should to be taken, and I can't see the situation changing.