Thread: Times: Savage Defence Cuts planned

Jeremy Paxman has just aluded to the fact(while questioning Mandlebum) that the Times main story tomorrow (Thursday 1st Oct) is that the Govt is planning severe cuts in the Defence budget. My initial reaction is, "you can't be serious where can they cut any further!" Waiting for link and article on Times website.

Edited to say: Hope to catch on Sky News review of tomorrows papers.

Where? Apparently in future planning.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle6856194.ece

Gordon Brown is looking at “a very big list� of defence procurement orders. He plans to shelve or scrap capital projects to pay for new equipment for troops in Afghanistan, seen as an overwhelming political priority.

Looks like Peter is going to get ass raped so Paul can have his Osprey!

Shows you how far their horizon is.

The lead story on the Times is currently this:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle6856194.ece

In which it suggests that the the PM "plans to shelve or scrap capital projects to pay for new equipment for troops in Afghanistan, seen as an overwhelming political priority"

The rumour (stress rumour) I've heard is that while defence will have to make some fairly notable cuts, the same is true of every single department of state - all tales that some departments will be 'ring fenced are untrue, be the story that the NHS budget is entirely safe, or the reference in the link above that Gordon's special little helper Ed Balls has secured a commitment not to take a penny out of the education budget...

Edit - apologies for the repetition - my connection is having intermittent periods of being damned slow tonight and there wasn't a single reply to the original post when I pressed submit...

Projects will be axed... FSTA, A400m, Eurofighter Typhoon T3B, FSC, FRES, FIST, Trident replacement and then some.

The Government may well be planning cuts, they may as well be planning the metrication of time. It matters not, they will not be in power to implement them.

On the Newsnight report tonight they had a piece on the governments spending and said that this week alone at their conference they have announced programs worth £2.5Bn.(Thats approx 6% of the Defence budget.) Of course No specifics on where there will be cuts.

Included in that is £100m for Mandlebums extension of the car scrappage scheme (or 130 new Jackal 2's).

I bet the carriers wont be cut from the list as they are being built in Cyclops constituency.

Stilts

Originally Posted by CQMS

The Government may well be planning cuts, they may as well be planning the metrication of time. It matters not, they will not be in power to implement them.

CQMS I can assure you I'll be voting with such enthusiasm to eject this shower from govt that polling clerks will think I'm feverishly stabbing my ballot paper but even I have to say I will not be holding my breath that the Tories will be much kinder to Defence when all is said and done.

No matter who wins the next election massive spending cuts will come.
Defence will take it's share.
Traditionally when money is tight Defence suffers most.

But expect more like this, for we wil have the Nastiest, dirtiest Election ever and Labour excels, Mengler and Cammeron will be in their glory.

Harman declares class war on Osborne with inflammatory jibes about 'lap-dancing bars and fox-hunting'

By Ian Drury
Last updated at 10:36 PM on 30th September 2009
Harriet Harman delivers her speech at the Labour conference this afternoon

Harriet Harman faced accusations of resorting to smears today as she launched a bizarre 'class war' attack on the Tories.

Labour's deputy leader suggested the Conservatives idea of 'diversity' was fox-hunting, opening sleazy lap-dancing parlours and making women serve drinks in private members' clubs.

She also risked criticism for using 'dirty tricks' by making a thinly-veiled reference to embarrassing photographs of Shadow Chancellor George Osborne with a prostitute.

It was an extraordinary blunder by Ms Harman in the wake of the 'Smeargate' row which rocked Downing Street earlier this year.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown was forced to apologise in April after his most trusted aide, Damian McBride, was forced to quit after it emerged he plotted to spread false sleaze stories about a string of senior Tories.

Ms Harman - the niece of a Baroness and educated at one of Britain's most exclusive private girls schools - smeared Mr Osborne in a keynote speech to the Labour conference.

She descended into class war rhetoric as she swerved from her intended speech to paint an imaginary picture of a 'diversity night' at the Tories annual rally next week.

'It would be held in the Carlton Club. David Cameron would announce more opportunities for fox hunting,' she said.

'George Osborne, instead of a Sure Start centre in every community, would promise a lapdancing club in every neighbourhood.
George Osborne

George Osborne with his wife. The Shadow Chancellor was once photographed with a known prostitute at her flat in 1994 but denied any impropriety

'Theresa May, the shadow equalities minister, wouldn't be allowed to speak because she's a woman. But she might be allowed to serve the drinks. There would be music – but obviously not Girls Aloud.'

Her remarks about Mr Osborne appeared to be a reference to photographs published in 2005 of him with a prostitute, Natalie Rowe, taken at a party 12 years earlier.

The Shadow Chancellor - a former member of Oxford University's notorious Bullingdon Club - has always vehemently denied he had sex or took drugs with her.

But insiders close to Ms Harman insisted it was simply a light-hearted reference to lapdancing club tickets distributed during last year's Tory conference.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz0SdEYAlUj


john

Originally Posted by Deadreckon

Originally Posted by CQMS

The Government may well be planning cuts, they may as well be planning the metrication of time. It matters not, they will not be in power to implement them.

CQMS I can assure you I'll be voting with such enthusiasm to eject this shower from govt that polling clerks will think I'm feverishly stabbing my ballot paper but even I have to say I will not be holding my breath that the Tories will be much kinder to Defence when all is said and done.

Alas, the Tory party will not be kinder. It's a paradox when because of Tony Blairs policy of "liberal interventionism" the armed forces are not in a more parlous state than they would have been if Labour had simply run down capability at the end of the cold war.

Like it or not its gonna happen whoever gets the job

The only place cuts arent going to be made is for the great unwashed who are multiplying like bacteria.

So more taxes for less service : Same sh1t different day I'm afraid.

Originally Posted by CQMS

Originally Posted by Deadreckon

Originally Posted by CQMS

The Government may well be planning cuts, they may as well be planning the metrication of time. It matters not, they will not be in power to implement them.

CQMS I can assure you I'll be voting with such enthusiasm to eject this shower from govt that polling clerks will think I'm feverishly stabbing my ballot paper but even I have to say I will not be holding my breath that the Tories will be much kinder to Defence when all is said and done.

Alas, the Tory party will not be kinder. It's a paradox when because of Tony Blairs policy of "liberal interventionism" the armed forces are not in a more parlous state than they would have been if Labour had simply run down capability at the end of the cold war.

Reminds me of a quote from the West Wing:

You know the difference [between Republicans and Democrats]? Republicans want a huge military but they don't want to send it anywhere. The Democrats wants a small military and they want to send it everywhere.

Same rings through with Zanu Labour methinks. Inevitable consequences of the something must be done brigade

DR