Tuesday, February 03, 2015

After years of military cuts, can Britain still defend itself?

Russian warplanes are skirting the British Isles and Isil is rampant in the Middle East - yet somehow Britain's armed forces have become the forgotten issue in this election









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A Typhoon FGR.4 Jet of RAF 11 Squadron based at RAF Coningsby, Lincs flies over rooftops in West London en route to RAF Northolt for training exercises ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games.
The Jet still bears the mission marks below the canopy from the 2011 campaign in Libya.
The seaside town of Bournemouth might seem an unlikely setting for a high-octane confrontation with the Russian military. But last week, the south coast resort became the focus of a major security alert, with RAF jets scrambled to intercept two Russian long-range bombers as they flew close to British airspace.
In the event, the emergency – which saw Typhoon interceptors launched from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland and RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire – passed without incident, as the British fighters closely tracked Tupolev “Bear” bombers, which are designed to carry nuclear weapons, from a distance of 1,000ft as they passed through the Channel.
The incident was nevertheless deemed to be of sufficient severity that Alexander Yakovenko, the Russian Ambassador, was summoned to the Foreign Office to explain the Kremlin’s actions.
The frequency with which Russian warplanes are challenging British airspace has provoked concerns in Whitehall that Vladimir Putin wants a new era of Cold War-style confrontation with the West. According to figures released by the Ministry of Defence, more than 100 Russian warplanes were intercepted last year by RAF fighters – three times more than in 2013. This surge in activity has taken place at the same time as Moscow has attracted international condemnation for its illegal annexation of the Crimea, and its military support for pro‑Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The fact that Russian warplanes are now regularly and deliberately testing Britain’s air defences inevitably raises the question of whether, following the drastic cuts the Coalition has made to the defence budget, the British military is properly equipped to defend the nation’s interests.
At the height of the Cold War, there was no shortage of aircraft and warships to keep foes like the Russians at bay. The RAF boasted more than 30 combat squadrons; the Army was more than twice its current size; and the Royal Navy had more than 50 warships, as well as two fully operational aircraft carriers.
But that was before a succession of governments – both Tory and Labour – undertook a series of dramatic cuts. They have reduced our Armed Forces to a lamentable state, with serious questions now being asked about their ability to deal with the many threats we are likely to face in future years, whether that be the Kremlin’s new-found spirit of military adventurism, or the rise of well-organised Islamist terror groups, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), which has seized control of large swathes of northern Iraq and Syria and is once more dominating the headlines after the murder of the Japanese hostage Kenji Goto over the weekend.
With the Coalition’s most recent defence cuts, following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), the Army’s strength now stands at a modest 82,000 men. The total number of RAF combat squadrons is due to fall to a paltry six – hardly sufficient to protect Britain’s airspace, let alone undertake overseas combat operations. The number of operational Navy warships stands at just 18 – five destroyers and 13 frigates – with the two new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers unlikely to enter service until well into the next decade.
The most recent cuts, moreover, have had a disastrous impact on our ability to undertake even the most basic military tasks. For example, the Coalition’s decision to scrap the Nimrod maritime patrol programme means that we no longer have the ability to track Russian nuclear submarines operating close to British territorial waters. At the end of last year, when a Russian attack boat was spotted close to the Scottish coast, we had to ask Nato to help us by sending one of its anti-submarine patrol aircraft.
Similarly, delays to the RAF’s upgrade programme for the Typhoon fleet, principally caused by the lack of funding available for the new equipment, have left RAF pilots relying on our ageing fleet of Tornado GR4 bombers to conduct missions against Isil positions in Iraq.
These are just two of the more glaring examples of how the defence cuts are having a direct bearing on the effectiveness of all three Forces. And yet, rather than facing up to the enormous damage that has been inflicted by successive governments, none of the main political parties appears to be at all interested in championing the needs of the Armed Forces.
Indeed, with politicians of all persuasions warning that the next government will need to make further cuts if it is to balance the books, there is already speculation that more defence cuts are being planned in the run-up to the next SDSR, which will take place after the general election. Last month Sir Nick Harvey, the former Liberal Democrat defence minister, warned that the MoD had drawn up plans to cut the Army by a further 20,000 to around 60,000, a number that would render it incapable of participating in any future coalition ground operations. Senior Army sources have downplayed the claim, pointing out that David Cameron has made a public commitment to keep the Army at its current, depleted strength if he is re-elected.
An alternative money-saving option, floated this weekend, was to merge the Royal Marines and the Parachute Regiment – an idea that Maj Gen Julian Thompson, who led 3 Commando Brigade during the Falklands War, describes as “barmy”. The thinking is that a single joint airborne and amphibious assault unit would be formed, stripping out duplication but also gravely weakening our capability to respond to global events.
There is something peculiar here. Already, those within the MoD are starting to wrangle over what to cut. But that implicitly accepts that the cuts will inevitably happen.
Indeed, while Mr Cameron has signalled his reluctance to make further cuts to the Army, he has been less forthcoming about whether a future Conservative-led government would maintain Britain’s defence spending at the all‑important figure of 2 per cent of GDP – the sum that is required by Nato membership.
During last September’s Nato summit in Wales, Mr Cameron lectured the other European members on the need to meet that benchmark. Yet even without further cuts, our defence spending is due to fall to around
1.7 per cent of GDP by 2018 – well below the designated threshold. When challenged in the Commons last month about his intentions, Mr Cameron avoided making a firm commitment, preferring to give assurances that he would make sure the Armed Forces had the funding needed to fulfil Britain’s defence requirements.
It is the same story with Labour, where Vernon Coaker, the shadow defence secretary, says his party cannot make a firm commitment to the 2 per cent threshold so long as tackling the deficit remains a top priority. And the Liberal Democrats, who could still hold the balance of power, have no interest in increasing the defence budget. On the contrary, most would like to divert even more of it towards international aid, even though the Department for International Development is said to have spent a staggering £60 billion over the past four years on projects that have done nothing whatsoever to ameliorate the threat to British interests – which was Mr Cameron’s argument for ring-fencing the aid budget in the first place.
All of which means that, as the election campaign gets under way, none of the main political parties is prepared to champion the cause of the Armed Forces. Indeed, if the politicians get their way, defence will be a non‑subject for the campaign’s duration.
Whether they can get away with this woeful and deliberate neglect will depend, to a degree, on whether any major international crisis emerges before May. But what is certainly true is that, unless there is a radical change in the way the next government funds defence, Britain’s Armed Forces could go from being a source of pride to a national embarrassment.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/11382875/After-years-of-military-cuts-can-Britain-still-defend-itself.html 

51 comments:

Anonymous said...

Netanyahu: Symbol of Rogue Governance.


http://www.globalresearch.ca/netanyahu-symbol-of-rogue-governance/5428827

Anonymous said...

Addicted to War: Netanyahu boasting, ‘No one is immune to Israeli attacks’


http://21stcenturywire.com/2015/02/02/addicted-to-war-netanyahu-boasting-no-one-immune-to-israeli-attacks/

Anonymous said...

Medical Neglect In Israel's Gulag.



http://www.rense.com/general96/medneg.html

Anonymous said...

War Is the New Normal.


http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/war_is_the_new_normal_20150202?

Anonymous said...

How Dare I
Name The Beast.



http://timster-howdarei.blogspot.co.uk/

Anonymous said...

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Here We Go Again With More Fraud ISIS Bullshit: Jordanian Pilot "Burned To Death" In Latest Video Brought To You By Jewish Run SITE Group!

http://northerntruthseeker.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/here-we-go-again-with-more-fraud-isis.html

Anonymous said...

Corral the 50 wealthiest jews and there will be no wars.

Henry Ford.

Anonymous said...

What we need to stand up and say is not only did they attack the USS Liberty, they did 9/11. They did it. I have had long conversations over the past two weeks with contacts at the Army War College, at it’s headquarters, Marine Corps and I made it absolutely clear in both cases that it is 100 percent certain that 9/11 was a Mossad operation. Period.”

Dr. Alan Sabrosky – Ph.D, University of Michigan, Former Director of Studies at the Army War College

“All the intelligence services of America and Europe… know full well that the disastrous attack ( of 9/11 ) has been planned and realized from the Mossad.. with the aid of the Zionist world in order to put under accusation the Arabic countries and in order to induce the Western Powers to? take part… in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Francesco Cossiga – the 43rd Prime Minister and the eighth President of the Italy. He was also a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sassari. (now deceased)

“For the best and bravest documentary about Israeli false flag terror, watch filmmaker Mike Delaney’s 9/11 Missing Links.”

Capt Eric May – Former Army Intelligence (with specialties in nuclear, biological and chemical warfare, military intelligence and public affairs), Staff Writer For VeteransTodays.com (He is also a former NBC editorial writer who has published widely, from Military Intelligence Magazine to The Wall Street Journal)

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the biggest single factor behind both the global inter-mixing of ethnic groups as well as the escalating racial and ethnic conflicts is the designed agenda of the globalists orchestrating and ushering in their New World Order. For centuries the ruling elite in Europe and North America have purposely caused countless wars, conflict, strife and destruction by utilizing the age-old strategy of divide and conquer. For a hundred years the globalists have viewed the biggest obstacles to their one world government to be nationalism and religion. Additionally, moves to regionalize merging blocs of nations like the European Union are a principal strategic process toward materializing the New World Order. The WTO, NAFTA and the various international “free” trade agreements also merging regional economic interests act as major steppingstones toward increasing centralized banking control facilitated by a one world government.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-hidden-truth-the-rising-tide-of-global-racism-and-xenophobia

Anonymous said...

Iceland to build first temple to Norse gods since Viking age

A modern version of Norse paganism has been gaining popularity in recent years as followers see the stories as metaphors for life not worship of the gods.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/02/iceland-temple-norse-gods-1000-years

Anonymous said...

Fiji to remove ‘outdated’ union jack from flag

New flag should reflect Fiji’s current position as modern, independent nation state and not its colonial past, says prime minister.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/03/fiji-remove-union-jack-flag-britain

Anonymous said...

New Greek finance minister accused of anti-Semitism

In 2005, Yanis Varoufakis was suspended from Australian radio show for promoting ‘negative stereotypes about Jews’


Read more: New Greek finance minister accused of anti-Semitism | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-greek-finance-minister-accused-of-anti-semitism/#ixzz3QoqTZTuA

Anonymous said...

Racist, sexist and in denial: Now police will investigate Rotherham Council over child sex abuse at hands of Asian gangs as entire cabinet resigns
National Crime Agency is investigating after damning new report out today
Rotherham Council is still in denial over its role in scandal, author says
Last year it emerged 1,400 girls were exploited between 1997 and 2013
Figure is likely to be a conservative estimate of the true scale, report says
Victims terrorised with guns and doused in petrol and threatened with fire
Author of the report condemned 'blatant' failings by council's leadership
'Almost all' of the abusers were found to be part of Pakistani sex gangs
Action blocked by political correctness as staff 'feared appearing racist'
Council still handing out taxi licences without taking 'sufficient steps' to ensure drivers are 'fit and proper'
Eric Pickles calls new elections and cabinet resigns to allow 'fresh start'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2939129/Two-local-councillors-corrupt-police-officer-accused-having-sex-victims-Rotherham-abuse-scandal.html#ixzz3QouUT32O

Anonymous said...

6 Immediate Health Benefits Of Not Believing Mainstream Media.



http://rinf.com/alt-news/latest-news/6-immediate-health-benefits-believing-mainstream-media/

Anonymous said...

Bid to bar reporting Ken Clarke’s name in sex accuser’s trial fails.


http://www.exaronews.com/articles/5461/bid-to-bar-reporting-ken-clarke-s-name-in-sex-accuser-s-trial-fails?utm_source=newsletter-news&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter-04-02-15

Anonymous said...

EFF's "Yellow Dots of Mystery" on Instructables.

Since late 2004, EFF has been warning the public about "printer dots" -- tiny yellow dots that appear on documents produced by many color laser printers and copiers

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/10/effs-yellow-dots-mystery-instructables

Anonymous said...

Tel Aviv urges end to UN probe into 2014 Gaza war.



http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/02/03/395992/Israel-wants-end-to-Gaza-war-probe

Anonymous said...

Canadian Jewish Congress Org
anized Nazis Party.




http://www.henrymakow.com/canadian_jewish_congress_propp.html

Anonymous said...

"Race Traitor" Proves Governments Sponsor Terror

The neo Nazi "Heritage Front" was financed by the Canadian Security
and Intelligence Service (CSIS) and led by its agent, Grant Bristow.

http://henrymakow.com/#sthash.vmsUgz2T.dpuf

Anonymous said...

Israeli bank workers accused of defrauding "Holocaust survivor"



http://www.therealistreport.com/2015/02/israeli-bank-workers-accused-of.html

Anonymous said...

Brit Army 77th Battalion - 1,500 To Spread Net Disinfo.



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-02-03/meet-british-armys-77th-battalion-mobilizing-1500-facebook-warriors-spread-disinform

Anonymous said...

Western Democracy in Disgrace.



http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/02/03/395972/Western-Democracy-in-Disgrace

Anonymous said...

Top Russian Public Intellectual: We Are on the Verge of Global War

War is necessary for the preservation of the American system, Russia is the main target


http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/02/04/3109

Anonymous said...

‘No Jews’ job advert in France sparks outrage

Paris graphic design company’s online ad said candidates must be motivated, rigorous and ‘if possible, not Jewish’

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/03/french-no-jews-job-ad-complaints

Anonymous said...

Number of Homeless in UK Rises Threefold in Four Years Amid Benefits Cuts.


Read more: http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150204/1017760946.html#ixzz3QupKYlTP

Anonymous said...

Shame of grooming cover-up: Cynical councillors could be going to jail after report says they systematically hid truth

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2939129/Two-local-councillors-corrupt-police-officer-accused-having-sex-victims-Rotherham-abuse-scandal.html#ixzz3QuucYEBT

Anonymous said...

Former US Diplomat: US Is Arming Kiev to Force "EU Wimps" into Confrontation with Russia


Washington does not believe arms to Ukraine can change the tide of war, it is actually aimed at Europeans

http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/02/04/3128

Anonymous said...

Did Jordan Train The ISIS Fighters Who Burned Their Pilot Alive?


http://21stcenturywire.com/2015/02/04/did-jordan-train-the-isis-fighters-who-burned-their-pilot-alive/

Anonymous said...

‘Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th September 11 hijacker, has fingered members of Saudi Arabia’s royal family as major al-Qaeda donors.

The New York Times reports the Saudis deny the accusation and dismiss Moussaoui as mentally deranged. They say the allegation was rejected by the 9/11 commission. Moussaoui made similar claims in November.

Despite the Saudi denial, there is plenty of evidence Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Pakistan organized, funded and trained the so-called “Afghan Arabs” that would ultimately become al-Qaeda and the Taliban. A number of high level U.S. officials have admitted as much.’

Anonymous said...

Just last week, a new leak on the world’s dirtiest trade deal emerged that confirmed our worst fears about TTIP. The deal gives big business unprecedented power over decision-making across Europe. And the losers will be us — European citizens.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAp6cD5i8O0

Anonymous said...

My struggle with Sir Cover-Up and the mandarins of Whitehall over Iraq report, by Iraq inquiry's £790-A-DAY chairman Sir John Chilcot
Sir John Chilcot said 'not possible to say' when report will be published
Ex civil servant was hauled before Parliament to explain long delays
Inquiry into the causes of the war was ordered in 2009 by Gordon Brown
It was held up by legal wrangling over letters between Blair and Bush
Top civil servant Jeremy Heywood held up publication of correspondence
Inquiry has already cost taxpayers £9million and could cost millions more
MPs reacted angrily to failure to give indication when it will be published
Nadhim Zahawi said the failure to publish causing unnecessary suffering


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2939307/Under-fire-Iraq-War-inquiry-chairman-admits-does-not-know-publish-report.html#ixzz3Qv4dCCrc

Anonymous said...

Brian Williams forced to admit he was NOT shot down in the Iraq War: NBC anchor apologizes after angry soldiers reveal he LIED in Nightly News about 2003 helicopter ambush story.On Friday Brian Williams claimed during a news item that he was aboard a helicopter that was hit during the 2003 invasion of Iraq
Soldiers who were present during the incident have denied that the NBC anchor was anywhere near the aircraft
In fact Williams arrived about an hour later on another helicopter after the crippled craft had made an emergency landing
'Sorry dude, I don't remember you being on my aircraft,' responded one ex-soldier on the Nightly News' Facebook page
Another man, who claimed to be on Williams' aircraft said he had been 'calling him out on this for a long time with no response'
Williams has been quick to deny that he is attempting to 'steal anyone's valor' and has blamed the 'fog of memory over 12 years' for his mistake
He apologized on the air during Wednesday's program and called his mistake a 'bungled attempt' to honor a soldier
This isn't the first time Williams has lied about the incident - in 2013 he told Letterman that he was on one of two helicopters that were hit


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2940276/Brian-Williams-forced-admit-NOT-shot-Iraq-War-NBC-anchor-apologizes-angry-soldiers-protest.html#ixzz3Qv5mmtSS

Anonymous said...

Dieudonné trial: French comedian claims 'I am being persecuted' as he appears in court for third time in a week.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/dieudonn-trial-french-comedian-claims-i-am-being-persecuted-as-he-appears-in-court-for-third-time-in-a-week-10024228.html

Anonymous said...

UK anti-Semitism hit record level in 2014, report says (but who wrote the ‘report’??)


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31140919

Anonymous said...

Michael Grade: keep criminalising licence fee dodgers until 2017

Former BBC chairman Lord Grade of Yarmouth backs plans to continue hitting TV licence fee evaders with criminal records until 2017, in defiance of MPs who want to end the threat of jail.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/bbc/11391201/Michael-Grade-keep-criminalising-licence-fee-dodgers-until-2017.html

Anonymous said...

Avenge Dresden!



http://therebel.website/en/?option=com_content&view=article&id=835855:avenge-dresden&catid=376:mike-king&Itemid=4054&utm_source=newsletter_2743&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-latest-and-best-from-the-rebel-website

Anonymous said...

‘Austerity is a mass experiment in human despair’



http://rt.com/op-edge/228915-osborne-greece-economy-austerity/

Anonymous said...

Royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse

Rabbi told child sex abuse victim to 'let it go', royal commission told

Victim says rabbi Baruch Lesches told him the perpetrators’ lives would be ruined if he spoke up about abuse.

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/04/rabbi-told-child-sex-abuse-victim-to-let-it-go-royal-commission-told

Anonymous said...

The Case to "Reinstate" the Bank of Canada.




http://www.socred.org/blogs/view/the-case-to-reinstate-the-bank-of-canada

Anonymous said...

3 dumpster divers convicted of stale food theft in France.


http://rt.com/news/229131-france-dumpster-diver-trial/

Anonymous said...

Christians Have Been Duped by Zionists Christian Zionism has led millions of so-called Christians to support war rather than peace, and the merciless killingsof millions of people in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine.

http://henrymakow.com/#sthash.OhTsjWtU.dpuf

Anonymous said...

Rita Katz is at it again



https://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/rita-katz-is-at-it-again/#more-78060

Anonymous said...

Farage forced to abandon Rotherham event amid protests.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-31163189

Anonymous said...

Farage forced to abandon Rotherham event amid protests.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-31163189

Anonymous said...

Get the Hell out of Our Country !


Now that we have the Able Danger Report showing the names of the Israeli-American "Israeli first" Dual Citizens who did the nuclear attack on America on 9-11-01, it's time for them to leave America and take their Espionage Fronts and Fiat Counterfeiting Operations with them.

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2015/02/05/get-the-hell-out-of-our-country/

Anonymous said...

American Jewish leader: Danger of anti-Semitic ‘spillover’ in US criticism of Israel

In a Jerusalem meeting with Times of Israel staff, Conference of Presidents CEO Malcolm Hoenlein presses for prophylactic plan for massive aliyah

http://www.timesofisrael.com/american-jewish-leader-danger-of-anti-semitic-spillover-in-us-criticism-of-israel/#ixzz3QyYaXXrv

Anonymous said...

LEAKED EVIDENCE: Sen. John McCain Involved In Major Islamic Conspiracy To Establish Islamic State.


http://www.dcclothesline.com/2015/02/05/leaked-evidence-sen-john-mccain-involved-major-islamic-conspiracy-establish-islamic-state/

Anonymous said...

The richest 1% give everyone else 'quite a good deal', Tory MP says during poverty debate.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-richest-1-give-everyone-else-quite-a-good-deal-tory-mp-says-during-poverty-debate-10028082.html

Anonymous said...

Lawyer Sues Bank of Canada - You won't believe what happens.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XzTSHlVfyU#t=42

Anonymous said...

Wonga will not face criminal investigation over fake legal letters sent to 45,000 customers because police say there is 'not enough evidence'
Payday lender was ordered to pay £2.6m after 45,000 bogus legal letters
Experts said demands were fraudulent and breached 1974 Solicitors Act
But today City of London Police said case lacked 'sufficient evidence'
MP Stella Creasy said there was 'enough evidence' to make Wonga pay compensation for scaring customers, 'why don't the police?'
45,000 people were targeted but only 30,000 have had compensation


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2941228/Wonga-not-face-criminal-investigation-fake-legal-letters-sent-45-000-customers-police-say-not-evidence.html#ixzz3QydOI0UQ

Anonymous said...

ISRAEL TAKES OVER INDIA...



http://aanirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/israel-takes-over-india.html