C4 News Video - Gordon Brown is lying over defence spending.

Now we have the truth. Our Generals have said that Gordon Brown cut defence spending, a former head of the MOD said that Gordon Brown had cut defence spending. The only person claiming that Gordon Brown did not cut defence spending - is Gordon Brown himself. And guess what? Gordon is lying again. Here is a video made by the "fact check" team at C4 News:

Don't forget that these cuts took place while our troops were fighting two wars.



Hat tip Iain Dale.

Liam Fox: Pleased Chilcot has not ruled out recalling Gordon brown.

Commenting on Sir John Chilcot’s response to his letter asking for Brown to be recalled to the Iraq Inquiry, Shadow Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox said:

“I am pleased that Sir John Chilcot has not ruled out recalling the Prime Minister to the Iraq Inquiry. In line with his Chilcot appearance last week, this week we have repeatedly seen disingenuous Brown dissembling again.

“He told David Cameron yesterday that “on defence, the right hon. Gentleman cannot deny the fact that the budget is rising every year in real terms”, and this morning he repeated this claim on BFBS. Yet we now know that this is not true. Gordon Brown has been caught out using fantasy defence figures.

“Not only should Gordon Brown return to the Chilcot Inquiry, he must also apologise for misleading Parliament, and above all for misleading the Armed Forces.”

Liam Fox: Gordon Brown must be recalled to Chilcot Inquiry

Calling for Gordon Brown to be recalled to clarify his evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry, Shadow Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox said:

"Today I have written to Sir John Chilcot to ask that Gordon Brown is recalled to the inquiry to clarify his evidence. There have been so many other witnesses whose evidence directly contradicted his, concluding with Bill Jeffrey today, that there is a clear case for questioning Gordon Brown again.”

Here is the text of the letter sent to Sir John:

‘Since Gordon Brown’s session last Friday (5 March 2010) two former Chiefs of the Defence Staff (Admiral Lord Boyce and General Lord Guthrie) and a former Chief of the General Staff ( General Sir Richard Dannatt), all highly respected men of great integrity, have made public statements completely contrary to, and directly challenging, what Gordon Brown said during his session regarding resourcing and equipping our Armed Forces.

‘There is a strong case for you to recall Gordon Brown for further testimony in front of your inquiry after the upcoming General Election.

‘I fully understand why you do not want your inquiry to be involved with party politics but I do think that it is important to get the truth in this matter even if this cannot happen until after the election.’

What are the chances of the lying sod being dragged back to Chilcot before the election? If Gordon the liar Brown has anything to do with it, I would say the chances are zero.

Gordon Brown is burying a report on MOD waste.

The single most important duty of any government is to protect the nation. To do that you must provide sufficient funds and expertise to allow our armed forces to do their job. Gordon Brown has failed miserably to do so.

From the FT:

Gordon Brown was on Wednesday accused of suppressing a “damning” review of defence procurement policy that concluded billions of pounds were being wasted.

The report by Bernard Gray, a former adviser to the Ministry of Defence, was due to be published last month but was delayed after ministers announced that work would begin on a strategic defence review.

Mr Gray was to investigate how to bear down on spiralling procurement costs and improve how the department provides kit for the frontline.

His report finds that the MoD has just two-thirds of the funds it needs to meet existing commitments to buy equipment. The shortfall pushes up costs by forcing project delays. Up to £2.5bn a year is being wasted as a result, according to details of the report seen by Channel 4 News.

The decision last year to postpone work on new aircraft carriers by two years could cost taxpayers up to £1bn as the consortium building the ships keeps staff working longer, leaked documents have shown.

Full story HERE.

Army officer arrested for leaking Afghan civilian casualty figures.

This sounds to me very much like the Damian Green affair. What Lt Col Owen McNally has allegedly leaked is not so much damaging to our efforts in Afghanistan as it is embarrassing to the US/UK governments. McNally, 48, was arrested under suspicion of breaching the Official Secrets Act.

From the Telegraph:

If charged, the officer will appear at the Old Bailey in London, which hears all such Official Secrets cases. He faces a maximum sentence of 14 years if convicted. Lt Col McNally joined the Army as a private in 1977 and worked his way up through the ranks before being commissioned as an officer in 1995. He is thought to be one of the Army's most senior former non-commissioned officers.

A senior officer told the Sun of Lt Col McNally's case: "This is deeply embarrassing for the British Army and completely unprecedented. In mitigation, there is no suggestion that any of the figures were being leaked to the Taliban."

I think this could turn out to be another bloody fiasco.

Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) Jobs are to be cut by the MOD.

Let me ask you a question: Suppose you are responsible for the protection of the United Kingdom from all aggressors. With that threat ever increasing, would you:

a) Increase Intelligence funding and staffing levels to meet this increased threat.

b) Implement the recommendations made in the Butler Review to improve the way our intelligence community operates.

or

c) Slash 121 posts from the Defence Intelligence Staff (The DIS analyses information from GCHQ, MI6 and the MoD).

I suspect that anyone of reasonable intelligence would have gone for answers a) or b) or both. Can you guess which option the MOD are going for? That's right..... c).

There is pattern emerging here. When we have an increase in childbirth rates, what do our great labour government do? They reduce the number of midwives and close down maternity wards. When violent crime is on the increase, what do the government do? They reduce the number of Police Constables and replace them with civilians in police uniform with no actual powers. When we are engaged in a level of armed conflict unseen for 40 years, what do the government do? They reduce manning levels of our armed forces and fail to provide the required level of funding to keep them safe. There are more examples of this kind of gross negligence - feel free to add to them in the comments section.

And now they want to cut back on our intelligence analysts? Priceless....