Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
29 September 2010
08:4572908Today in the TORYgraph Liam Fox has sent a letter to Cameron stating no matter what he WILL NOT support defence cuts.
We all have differing views on this, but what is important here is another crack opens up.
This one won't be able to be brushed under the carpet.
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Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
29 September 2010
09:2072913Keef
Apparently Fox is upset that his letter to DC has been leaked,surely one asks why is his upset or is it a double bluff and if he didn't want it leaked he should have sent it by private classified post but really wanted it to be leaked so he could blame "others".
If he didn't want it leaked he should have sought an audience with DC so his motives are imho cast into doubt.
The defence cuts will NOT be tolerated by most of the electorate as they see Trident as a waste of money whilst conventional weapons,hardware and troops are in short supply now and will be even more so should these cuts be introduced.
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
29 September 2010
09:5572915The letter was in advance of a meeting regarding the Defence review and is part and parcel of the process. It is wrong that it was leaked and Liam is right to be annoyed. Defence spending will get a lot of support at the Conservative Conference, it is something very close to the hearts of the Tory membership and, I suspect, would be the no1 spending priority for the vast majority.
DC has acknowledged that by saying that cuts to Defence will be at the lower end of 10% and not the 25% being asked of other departments. This is the only department for which increased spending is fully justified but sadly cannot happen.
Dont get too excited Keith - the process of negotiation for spending cuts is always painful and we must always listen to all 'positioning' with a pinch of salt. No surprises here.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
29 September 2010
10:4972920it must have been deliberately leaked, should be easy to trace the leaker though, not many people would have known of the contents.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
29 September 2010
11:3872930BAZ;
I will be watching, as many others will, Mr Fox, and his strong words on not accepting the 10% cuts!!!
Of course like the Lib Dems the toies say one thing, then get into govt and do the opposite.
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Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
29 September 2010
11:5272939Labour arethe true experts at that Keith.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
29 September 2010
11:5572942liam, will be interesting to see if his words are just that,,,,,,,WORDS
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Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
29 September 2010
12:4072944This sounds like it could be a re-run of the situation prior to the Falklands. John Nott was proposing to emasculate the Royal Navy, with all the ships that made the Falklands victory possible due to be sold off. The aircraft carriers, the landing ships, and a mass of escorts were all due for the chop, plus of course the Falklands guard ship HMS Endurance.
Keith Speed was Navy Minister and opposed these cuts vehemently. He was sacked by Mrs Thatcher for refusing to resign. Liam Fox seems to be in much the same position. The two new carriers look on particularly dodgy ground. Labour can usually be trusted to see big warships through to fruition for purely political purposes as the shipbuilding constituencies are big Labour voters. Not so the Tories but the first of the carriers is hopefully too far advanced to be cancelled. Not impossible though, bearing in mind the Labour government in 1965 scrapping the most advanced aircraft of its day, the TSR2, and having those aircraft already completed demolished and the production rigs and blueprints destroyed to eliminate any possibility of the programme being resurrected by the Tories.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
29 September 2010
13:0972947Ed - now remind me, what government paid-off the old Ark Royal early and cancelled her replacements?
You will also have to remember the Navy pretending that the three mini-carriers were really 'through deck cruisers' to stop them from being axed.
All by Labour.
It was the lack of any credable conventional aircraft carrier that made the Argies think they could get away with the Falklands.
We have to remember as well just who used and abused the armed forces for the last 13 years while underfunding them. They did not even properly fund their own strategic defence review they had in 1997 and ordered equipment without any thought to affordability within the budget.
Me - defence is the only expenditure that I would increase and would regard it as the no1 spending priority at all times. Sadly Labour's financial incompetence has left some really difficult decisions and politically DC cannot leave the forces unscathed.
We will just have to see exactly what comes out of the review. Right now all we are getting is speculation, negotiation and positioning so everything said must be taken with a pinch of salt.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
29 September 2010
13:1172950Speculation, comes truth, Mr FOX made it clear these cuts will efect tory seats in the future
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