John Bean looks at the Brit Dems’ Defence Policy.
By next year the British Army will be reduced to 95,000 and eventually to 82,000 by 2020. To save money, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will try and expand its ‘reserve forces’, which is the old Territorial Army, up to 30,000 As we and the American and Canadian forces begin to slink away from Afghanistan we are faced with the prospect that following our complete exit by the end of this year the Taliban will be back in control within two years.
Thus for nothing have 447 British servicemen and women given up their lives, with 1500 or more being seriously injured and maimed for life. This is the outcome of the deceit, dishonesty, and derisory actions of the Lib-Lab-Con in its commitment – all in the name of expanding democracy – to follow the United States in trying to force the one world rule of the money power upon the nations of the world.
It was virtually a repeat of the disastrous interference into the affairs of the sovereign nation of Iraq, which Tony ‘I’m an honest sort of guy’ Blair got us into by the now known lie that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The outcome was that around 100,000 Iraqis died, as did 4,200 American and 180 British servicemen. And somehow, Blair eventually became a multi-millionaire.
Saddam was a ruthless dictator and you crossed his path, or that of his family, at your peril. But he kept this nation of opposing Shia and Sunni Moslems, plus two million Christians and Jews, from slitting each others throats. This custom is now again endemic and the Christians and Jews have nearly all departed, if not already exterminated.
Visitors to the British Democrats site should consider our views on foreign policy and defence and contrast them with those of the old parties. This is the key difference:
‘We do not want Britain to carry out the role of the world’s policeman. Our service personnel must not be sent to die in foreign wars in which we have no vital interests at stake’.
To defend our interests and prevent any future militant internal threats to national security we need an Army of the present size. An Army that has the best equipment available, living accommodation equal to that expected in similar civilian occupations, and a pay scale that will attract and hold the most suitable men and women.
In regard to the RAF, the latest MoD plan is to reduce the size by 1,640 personnel. We cannot see the case for this reduction as its aircraft become ever more complex. The Eurofighter was designed to meet a threat that no longer exists: defence against Soviet bombers. But with modifications being carried out it is said to be doing its job. We would call into question the proposed deal to purchase Americas F-35 joint strike fighter to which we have already committed £2bn towards development costs.
Stop Naval Cuts
As an island Nation we cannot possibly afford to reduce our Navy any further. We depend on trade and even if 50 per cent continues to be with the rest of Europe it can’t all go through the Channel Tunnel. Although we face no immediate threat of invasion by a foreign nation, we cannot predict what exactly will happen in ten year’s time, let alone twenty. For a start, we need to treble the number of patrol vessels available – around 20 at present – to halt the situation of our coasts being as effective as a sieve in preventing the arrival of an ever growing number of illegal immigrants. We should also have sufficient naval vessels to take part in a permanent combined European naval patrol in the Mediterranean to reduce the flood of immigrants arriving from Africa. We should also continue to contribute ships to control pirate actions on world trade routes, which has been mainly successful in dealing with Somali pirates.
The above are necessary roles for the future Royal Navy. They simply cannot be carried out effectively with the maximum of 79 commissioned ships we have at present – and nearly half of those spend most time at anchor. Excluding the fabled two giant aircraft carriers being jointly built with France, our ships include only 6 destroyers and 13 frigates as at September 2013, with 24 patrol vessels and 15 minesweepers When I left the Royal Navy in July 1948 (I reached the dizzy heights of a Leading Radar Mechanic) Britain still had at least seven aircraft carriers in operation and a hundred or more destroyers and frigates, a situation which was to last until the sixties.
We still have four ballistic missile submarines in operation, armed with the American manufactured nuclear missiles, for which they hold the keys ! This consumes a large slice of our naval budget. It could be trimmed by reducing the number to three: one on constant patrol, one always ready to go, and one under maintenance. Unfortunately, with nuclear weapons possibly available to most intrepid terrorist organisations around the globe, we would be foolish to scrap all four missile subs.
The latest reports on the two new aircraft carriers state that the original £3.6bn estimate has almost doubled to £6.2bn, and is expected to rise a further £800 million before completion. It is also reported that the carriers could set sail without a proper radar system to warn of enemy planes and missiles. The technology will not be ready until six years after the first carrier enters service in 2016. As is now well known the carriers are still without any sign of aircraft. Although the last Labour government destroyed the Harrier jump jets, they did at least visualise the use of more advanced versions. In 2010 Cameron scrapped these plans and instead ordered versions of the US F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which would need catapults and arrester gear to take off and land on the vessels (which jump jets would not need). When the cost of fitting the ships with ‘cats and traps’ more than doubled to £2bn, David Cameron flip-flopped and returned to buying the jump jet. The move cost £74 million in lost man hours, administration and needless planning. So the saga goes on….and on.
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The role of the British military is that of the defence of this country and Britain’s genuine interests overseas. It must cease acting as either a mercenary force for the predatory Yanks or as piece of tinsel on the cake to give American military aggressions an air of international respectability. Central planks of BDP defence policy should include the removal of all foreign forces from this country – meaning no foreign bases on British soils or overseas territories, and the return of all British forces based in other sovereign states such as Germany (which is more than capable of defending itself) and Cyprus.
I agree. This is yet another area of policy where we can inform the electorate of our significantly different approach to BOTH the overt globalists of the Lib/Lab/CON party and the supposed ‘alternative’ of UKIP.
As a Briton, I have no problem with Britain being friendly towards the United States but that doesn’t mean that our national interests and those of America will necessarily converge at all times. The simple fact is they won’t and the British government needs to take account of that in its defence and foreign policy. It is just as bad for our country to be beholden to the USA as it is for it to be with regard to the EU. Perhaps, if British governments abided by this nationalist principle the separatists of Alex Salmond and company wouldn’t be in the electoral position they are now in.
What good is a big army, navy and air force, when most of our enemies are here at home – in the LibLabCON, think tanks, Common Purpose, quangos, BBC, MSM, City, global corporations, TUC, universities, Marxist churchianity and ‘charities’?
Another insightful and thoroughly researched article by John Bean – and very true, sadly. I remember when I was in the TA (around the time of the Profumo scandal) there was even talk of closing down the Territorials as “superfluous” to “modern requirements”! Rule The Waves? The British don’t even rule their own country any more! Vive la Revolution!
The ongoing cuts in our armed forces simply demonstrate that we are becoming more and more bankrupt as a nation.
With every passing year we sink further and further down the international league tables, gradually towards Third World status. We may still have some way to go perhaps, but the chronic mismanagement of Britain for over half a century by alternating Labour and Conservative governments has driven our national wealth and international status down to where it is now.
Two world wars bankrupted Britain, which led to the dismantling of our Empire and reduced our national wealth to such an extent that we became beggars to the USA. Since the end of WW2 we have been so financially indebted to the USA that effectively we have become a vassal state. Our armed forces now seem to exist simply to further the global trade interests of the USA.
Blair is a prime example of how a British PM is rewarded handsomely, after leaving office, for steering British government policy in the way dictated by US national and commercial interests.
The old parties certainly have a dilemma in that they need to obey their US masters but continuously inherit a worsening economy from each other. This forces them to economise on almost everything, which includes our armed forces, thus gradually leaving us less and less effective in our use to our US masters. British governments have had to assure the US that we are still capable of supporting them, more than once.
The shame and embarrassment of having once been a great seafaring nation, with the world’s most powerful navy now reduced to such a rump of a navy, seems totally lost on the LibLabCon. That we can’t even equip our new aircraft carriers with aircraft is laughable, if it weren’t so deeply shameful. Proof of where the financial priorities of the LibLabCon lie is that they don’t criticise the ongoing vast amounts given away in foreign aid, while allowing the ongoing decay of our own nations infrastructure and defence capabilities.
Our European neighbours are even more bankrupt than us, especially because of the terrible Euro currency mistake. They are living on borrowed time economically. The hope of joining forces with them to protect our joint interests is a lost one in my own opinion. Our only hope of national salvation is a completely new approach to running our nation especially its finances. It will be a mammoth task to repair the terrible damage that has been inflicted on our nation over years of Tory and Labour misrule. However, with a Nationalist government that has the right priorities we could reestablish something of an effective Royal Navy. Our own national security depends on it.
The Taliban will be back in control within two years you say John . Hedging your bets there are you not. I’d give to two weeks as the Taleban have already infiltrated the police, and still are in control of local politics. The American poodle governance will receive a bloody nose PDQ.
When the time comes we will have no opposition.
(Party Member) Whilst pondering how our Defence Policy is well thought out and sensible, it occurred to me that maybe the real purpose of all the reductions in our defence capability is so that one day they will argue that we might as well be part of a European Union Military instead !
(Party Member) Armed forces day is upon us, when people get the opportunity to express their respect for our people in the armed services and maybe again , to remember all those who have fallen in the past. The dreadful and futile First World War for instance, reduced our peoples numbers considerably, particularly the Loyalists of Ulster who volunteered in their droves and lost a considerable part of their majority in the process. The more I read about them and their suffering since, for wanting to remain part of Britain, the more I admire them.