Labour’s newly appointed value for money tsar…..Mr Goldstone previously oversaw delivery of the London Olympics,
Most, most, fun. Continuing in the grand tradition of appointing people whose knowledge is entirely and wholly antithetical to the subject under discussion.
Still trying to work out if they’re taking the piss or utterly deluded.
“value for money tsar”
Could you point me in the direction of the Winter Palace comrade? I have an urgent delivery to make from V. M. Molotov.
“He doen’t even have a television”
“Perfect, appoint him to the board of the BBC.”
I have always wondered what you have to do to get onto this grifter gravy train. There seems to be an endless number of jobs that are only available if you have the right political connections rather than relevant experience.
He’s paid £950 a day. Value for money that.
I’d have given the job to Longrider. I’m sure that he would have plenty of useful advice for the government on this particular subject.
David was previously the Chief Operating Officer of the Ministry of Defence, where he led the Department’s complex multi-billion transformation programme
Lol. Let’s look at how the Ministry of Defence has transformed.
Main battle tanks.
1992: 1276
2004: 543
2024: 227
Light tanks:
1992: 312
2004: 464
2024: 176
Infantry fighting vehicles:
1992: 605
2004: 575
2024: 176
Armoured vehicles:
1992: 5941
2004: 4054
2024: 2579
Howitzers:
1992: 723
2004: 344
2024: 215
Combat aircraft:
1992: 274
2004: 510
2024: 167
Total manpower:
1992: 293,000
2004: 205,000
2024: 148,000
When these homos talk about “defeating Russia”, they’re dreaming and should wake up and apologise to President Putin.
Ah but, Steve, just think how much better off we are now as a country due to the benefits of the ‘Peace Dividend’.
Yeah, I can’t think of any either………
– Let’s look at how the Ministry of Defence has transformed.
Do you not think that’s right, Steve? It shows the reduction since the end of the cold war, and you assure us that NATO wasn’t needed after that and Russia isn’t a threat to us anymore, etc.
. . . apologise to President Putin.
Just pop it in your next love letter.
Addolff – the mind boggling thing is, we’re spending over £50 Bn a year on a tiny scale model armed forces.
Israel spends a lot less than we do, yet get considerably more bang per shekel.
PJF – NATO is cancer, and as soon as we get rid of it, the sooner we can enjoy peace and profitable commerce with our friends in Russia and China. Defeating NATO is probably the only good thing that will come of the current war.
Russia is not a threat to us, it’s a threat to Two Tier Kier. Good luck, Russia!
Lol, I think you could have laid it on a bit thicker there.
PJF – it saves time when you realise I am right in the first place.
As I told you, Ukraine/NATO could not defeat Russia. You disagreed, yet here we are, with Steve proved right again.
You will also see me proved correct when NATO (which should be called GAYTO, amirite) ceases to exist in the wake of the US government’s forthcoming forced exit from the Middle East and Europe. An alliance that can’t defeat either Russia or the Houthis is doomed, but then the purpose of NATO has nothing to do with defence.
– As I told you, Ukraine/NATO could not defeat Russia. You disagreed, yet here we are, with Steve proved right again.
Saying “we can’t win” is a self fulfilling prophecy, so nil point.
Russia can easily be defeated – but you have to make the effort. The Biden admin has been too pissant worrying about Russia disintegrating so has been unwilling to pressure hard enough, fast enough. Trump seems entirely caught up with your version of suicidal idiocy so will likely abandon Ukraine if he wins (not sure on that, it feels like 2020 again).
. . . but then the purpose of NATO has nothing to do with defence.
We’ll find out when it’s gone, won’t we. Your children should be just about the right age.
You’ve fought to the last Russian, Steve. Now you’re having to fight to the last North Korean.
Winning, huh?
@Steve I think you’ll find that a nation that has been surrounded by neighbours bent on eradicating it, just may have found a way to be more efficient per monetary unit than a Nation that’s been nominally at peace with only some Poncy Posing for some 80 years.
Israel also is rather serious about its conscription and its training during the period people serve, so it has a deep pool of people who at least remember the stuff they need to do to …keep things safe.
Mandatory military service has its pro’s and con’s, especially on the modern battlefield which has very little use for ….amateurs..
But ditching it altogether is a good way to ensure you will have *no* easily retrained specialists at all.
This aside from the UK having been a prime example of TPTB deeply loathing *any* chance on the general populace being trained in military matters at all. For centuries.
They might get Ideas about their Lords and Masters and do a France…
They might get Ideas about their Lords and Masters and do a France…
People keep forgetting that Britain beheaded its monarch 150 years before the Frogs. It only took us 10 years to work out that was a bad move, the French are still grappling with it.
Paul, Somerset – Do you believe the North Korea tale? Seems like obvious bullshit to me until we see some proof. Otoh Russian troops are having great fun, flying North Korean flags to troll the West.
Another question: did you also believe the Kuwaiti incubators story, that Saddam had WMD, and that those heavily armed Muslim militias we put in charge of Kosovo are the Goodies?
Grikath – you’ll find that a nation that has been surrounded by neighbours bent on eradicating it, just may have found a way to be more efficient per monetary unit than a Nation that’s been nominally at peace with only some Poncy Posing for some 80 years
Yes? So why aren’t we copying the Jews and procuring smarterer? £50 bn a year isn’t small change, it should be buying a lot more than it’s currently delivering, or we should just save ourselves the money and outsource defence to Capita. For example: the MoD was recently allowed to fuck up what should have been a low risk, off the shelf procurement of armoured vehicles by adding 1,200 “requirements” (changes), Cue billions of pounds wasted and years wasted trying to get the Homercar version to work, when they should’ve just bought armoured vehicles. Lessons will be learned, ha. But the top brass who were involved have since fucked off to £££ at General Dynamics. But like they said the last time, it won’t happen again.
Besides, what’s the point of an army that’s too small to fight? Or an air force that can only fight for two weeks before they’re out of missiles? War is a go big or get killed business. It’s not just the UK that’s spending quite a lot of money for questionable defence. A report released in Germany last month found the German Army (I don’t think they like being called the Wehrmacht) would be out of artillery rounds within a week of fighting at the level of intensity seen in Ukraine.
At current rates of German rearmament, they project Germany’s armed forces will regain their 2004 strength within a hundred years.
Mandatory military service has its pro’s and con’s, especially on the modern battlefield which has very little use for ….amateurs..
But ditching it altogether is a good way to ensure you will have *no* easily retrained specialists at all.
Conscription is socially impossible in the modern Western world, it’s a fantasy that Rishi dreamed up at the last election because that’s how little respect he has for the intelligence of Conservative voters. Not that we have that many fit, male, English speaking men in the 18-25 demo to conscript anyway. Demographic pyramid is already going tits up.
We cannot afford WW3, we have neither the industrial or the human capital to win. Western policy in Sane World should be to seek de-escalation as far as reasonably possible, and try to mend its mounting internal crises.
PJF – Russia can easily be defeated – but you have to make the effort.
The West has already spent north of £200 billions on the Ukraine war. You think Russia can be “easily defeated”, where the best brains in NATO, with all their real time ISR have failed.
The Biden admin has been too pissant worrying about Russia disintegrating
This is your brain on Times Radio. No, the US gov aren’t worried about Russia disintegrating, they’re worried about themselves disintegrating, in a sheet wall of atomic flame. The Ukrainian “victory plan”, as the Americans noticed, was about trying to escalate the conflict to a direct war between the United States and Russia. Ukraine has no other hope of “victory”, so has a prepared narrative:
Trump seems entirely caught up with your version of suicidal idiocy so will likely abandon Ukraine if he wins
The stab in the back! After years of confident cockteasing about how the latest Western Javelins, Storm Shadows, Patriots, HIMARS, Challenger 2’s, Abrams, F-16’s, etc. etc. were going to beat back them cowardly Russians, any day now, and half a million dead Ukrainians later, they can blame it all on Orange Man.
Orange Man bad! But I saw a map of Little Russia, as Ukraine was known then, in the Encyclopedia Britannica. It was a small, landlocked region of the Russian Empire, occupying roughly the area of Ukraine not currently occupied or claimed by Russia. I thought you might appreciate the historical irony. I know Putin does.