Dannatt revisited - by Richard... Friday, October 16, 2009 http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/
David Cameron's appointment of General Sir Richard Dannatt as a military adviser was "a very major error of judgment", a former head of the Civil Service said yesterday.
This was Lord Turnbull, giving evidence to the Commons Public Administration Committee, warning that the move would call into question the political impartiality of other defence chiefs.
"You talk to the admirals and they are incandescent," he said. "It subverts the chain of command. One day the Chief of Defence Staff has this guy as his deputy, a few months later he is issuing instructions to him."
Turnbull adds that it risks politicising the military. "They will be thinking, 'Now which way is he going? Is he one of those New Labour people, is he a Conservative?'"
The Labour chairman of the Committee, Tony Wright, asked Turnbull if he thought the error was on the part of Gen Dannatt or David Cameron. Turnbull replied: "I'll leave you to judge that."
According to The Guardian though, "Dannatt is dead in the water." It gets that from a shadow minister who says that "Cameron is ruthless enough to realise he has made a bad mistake and will correct it."
Rather puts the views of all those little Tory Boys and Girls in perspective – they thought Dave had been so clever. What will they say when their hero puts the General back in his box? Come to think of it, what will the "Army legend" say?
COMMENT THREAD
From the great sage David Cameron, viaWitterings from Witney, who has a few terse words to say on the subject.
Addressing the Sustainable Consumption Institute conference, Dave outlined "five approaches to create a Green Consumer Revolution". But first, he wanted to get a few things straight. "There is now widespread agreement about the nature and scale of the threat posed by climate change," he said, adding:
Let me give you just one fact. If the Himalayan glaciers melt, three-quarters of a billion people will be without sufficient water. We cannot pretend that this would not have serious consequences for all of us – in terms of global conflict, the mass movements of people and our national security. Of course, there will always be some who deny the science and the scope of the threat posed.Mr Cameron's message to all of us is "one of optimism tinged with urgency ... Yes, our resources are low. Yes, our planet is in peril. And yes, the alternative to action doesn't bear thinking about."
They say ninety percent certainty is not good enough. But that is not a justification for inaction. I say to them, would you ask your children to live in a house which ninety percent of the experts told you was going to burn down?
What is particularly disturbing is the Boy's rather distorted logic, even accepting his premise at face value. Ninety percent of "experts" agreeing with a proposition is not "ninety percent certainty". Certainty is a scientific attribute, not a headcount. Ninety percent of "experts" can be wrong - and very often are.
On one thing, though, we can agree. Methinks we do indeed need a revolution – but it ain't the sort young Dave is thinking about.
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