Defence cuts sorted - by Richard... Saturday, August 14, 2010

Defence cuts sorted - by Richard... Saturday, August 14, 2010

We put our aircraft together and encourage them to breed - as with this early example of European unity.

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Not in the least surprised - by Richard...

David Cameron is happier sharing power with the Liberal Democrats than he would be with an all-Conservative government, according to "one of his inner circle".

If this is true, and it could very well be, it sort of confirms a lot of what we have been saying – the man is not a Conservative, never has been and never will be. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that he would be more at home with his own kind in the Lib-Dims than with a Tory majority.

What is surprising is that so many Tories fell for this imposter – but then the Tory Party always has been known as the "stupid party". It really has. This is not something we've invented. Now they're stuck with him, having to pretend they like it, that this is what they wanted all along.

Frankly, we have no sympathy at all. They chose him, they supported him and they fought for him. They deserve everything they get. I don't know about you, though, but I don't. I don't accept the man as my prime minister. I don't even think of him in those terms. He is an imposter and the sooner we are rid of him the better.

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Do it! - by Richard...

According to Financial Times analysis, the ratio of officers to " lower ranks" in the Armed Forces has fallen from 1/7 during the 1970s and 1980s to 1/5 today, as non-commissioned personnel have borne the brunt of the squeeze on force levels.

The imbalance is such that the military could shed almost a quarter of all officers and still remain at the same ratio as prevailed through the cold war. In salaries alone, this would save about £400m a year.

The sooner it is done the better. Once you get to that level of imbalance, the officer corps is a hindrance rather than an asset. You can have too much of a good thing ... and far too much of a very bad thing.

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Day 35 - Battle of Britain - by Richard... Friday, August 13, 2010

RAF Hornchurch and other RAF stations are on the menu for this day Adler Tag (Eagle Day) - supposedly the first day of the great offensive. One of the crew of this Dornier, shot down two miles SW of Eastchurch, does not see its end. The other two crew are to spend the rest of the war as prisoners.

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So what's new? - by Pete...

We got it, we didn't ask for it, it doesn't work and now we can't change it.

Were it not so boring, one might run a blog on such things.

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What do you expect - by Richard...

... from a place that used to make bird mincer blades?

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The Franco-German motor - by Richard...

An academic from the Centre for Maritime Historical Studies, University of Exeter, worries that the proposed cuts to the Navy will "weaken our ability to shape EU defence policy".

Methinks that Dr Duncan Redford, as a military historian, should revisit the real driver for EU defence policy (pictured above), following which he might be less keen on it, and seriously uninterested in shaping it.

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Back in sync - by Richard...

I won't bore you with the details, and there are an awful lot of "cheats" that need to be fixed, but I've more or less caught up with myself. You can read Day 34 here. Some heavy re-writing here as well, covering 25 July, with entertaining detail about the bonking destroyer!

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Battle of Britain - by Richard... Thursday, August 12, 2010

Slightly out of sync with the posts. I seem to have fallen into a new rhythm of starting the piece on the day, but finishing it on the next, thus keeping two days on the go at the same time.

Thus, I have finished Day 32. I'm quite pleased with this one – it was difficult to write, but it came together quite nicely. I touch on censorship and propaganda issues - hence the cartoon, taken from the piece (the wording on the blindfold reads "press censorship").

I've made a good start on Day 33, but have a lot more to do, especially with the illustration.

Today I'll make a start on Day 34 and, as always, I'll be adding to previous posts and working on the "backgrounders", with a little help – there are a few in the making.

In between wishing I hadn't started this, I'm privately wondering whether I have the stamina to finish, but it's turning out to be such a fascinating project that I would have difficulty walking away from it.

Battle of Britain thread