I find Putin's thinking hard to understand. A drone attack in Russia....Putin says that Ukraine will pay for that. For the last 18 months Russia have blitzkrieged Ukraine every day none stop......yet one reprisal and Putin gets upset.
Oh come on plymborn. He has been spouting crap from the start of this and blamed the West for the cause of the initial invasion. He is selling this to the Russian public as Ukraine being the aggressor so his words are bound to be the way they are. He doesn't need to get it he is the one reporting what he wants them all to believe. Don't forget he is defending mother Russia from the Nazzis again.
Putin must of smiled when Ben Wallace decided he'd had enough of the UK's military being down graded by Rishi Sunak's government. And when jack of all trades (this is my 5th cabinet post in a year) yes man... Grant Shapps became Defence Secretary....Putin must of been slapping his thighs with glee.
If it wasn't for Brexit and loss of influence with the USA, Wallace would be NATO Secretary General, which is the job he wanted.
He's called Ben Wallace not William Wallace. Superman he ain't even if he is competent in an incompetent bunch. I doubt Putin is bothered one way or another who is in the Secretary of State chair for this one.
Ben Wallace is ex-military and was well respected by the armed force's...and kept his job whilst others fell at random....and was well up the pecking order for the NATO top job....but there where those who had other idea's ...and he was bypassed. Grant Shapps is trying for the record of how many Cabinet seats one person can sit in....in one parliament.
Field Marshall Haig was a military man. Well known for being a conplete prick who had no comprehension of warfare even though he commanded the British forces on the Western Front during WWI. 400,000 dead and no gains was his record. But he was a military man...... Just because somebody was in the military it does not make other Presidents quake in their boots at the thought. He may have been competent and the best of his bunch but I still doubt Putin was quaking in his boots if he stayed.
I think having been in the military is a good thing for this position but in truth someone with successfully procuring large capital projects on time and on budget would be ideal. Do we have anyone like that in the UK let alone government? No? Someone from HS2 or Hinckley Point C perhaps? The Elizabeth Line? That was only 4 years late.
On this issue of constant chopping and changing if ministers, often due to some personal matter, Laura Kuenssberg has a documentary this week how politics has become much more personal and vindictive in recent years. Brexit of course figures strongly, going back to John Major and the Bastards. The furore over RAAC concrete in schools is all over the front pages of the newspapers this morning. Correct me if I’m wrong as I genuinely don’t know - aren’t local authorities and education trusts responsible for the care and maintenance of their own estate? Why’s it being portrayed as though central government is to blame?
It seems from watching the telly....you cannot tell if it is "proper" concrete or RAAC concrete by just looking.....and it seems that records where not always kept on what was used. it does seem back in the 1960's...when there was a lot of new buildings....schools etc.....RAAC was widely used because it was cheaper.
There's a story in the Times today saying that Ben Wallace has spent his last days in office pissing off Washington by threatening to cancel an order for 14 special operations H47 Chinook helicopters. The project cost has ballooned from £1.5 billion to £2.3 billion. The increase of £0.5 billion would buy an extra A400M aircraft, capable of flying 116 fully equipped troops 3,500 miles without refuelling at airliner speeds. It could by the way land on the teeny weeny runway at Plymouth Airport but it's not available for flights to Alicante. This isn't the first time the Chinook has caused problems for the MOD - you may remember this story concerning the Mark 3 back in 2008. https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/jun/04/military.defence This follows the fiasco of the Ajax fighting vehicle, also being procured from an American company which is expected to be 10 years late into service and initially vibrated so much it could not fire its gun while moving, injured some troops travelling inside and required the crew to wear ear defenders. These sorts of giant project cock-ups do rather put in context the relevance of a 4 year Short Service Commission in becoming Secretary of State for Defence.
I suspect there are numerous stories on so called super Arms that would curl your hair in their uselessness. Half of the Worlds capability are in a state of being useless most of the time. But, all you have to do is own something and rattle a Saber now and again and the deterant mostly works out. It's what they rely on. As for buying this or that from this Country or that well, that's more about politics than usefullness or cost.
Well yes, but the men and women who put on uniform for this country deserve the best equipment available. That’s partly because the country needs to protect itself but also so that tho are men and women are kept as safe as possible under the circumstances. That means we need the best kit at the best possible price. While we’re waiting for the Ajax, and paying over the odds for it, our soldiers could be called to fight in outdated vehicles. There are other important strategic issues, probably more pertinent to the Navy. I read an article saying the other day about ordering of warships. The Type 26 is in construction and will come to Devonport. It’s being built by BAe. No orders have been placed for The Type 31 which will be built by Babcock. There’s a strategic imperative in having competition in defence tendering and that means providing a constant stream of work, not necessarily spending more but not letting the stream stop. These decisions are important for the military and the country. They’re also important for the economy though. Thousands of highly skilled jobs depend on them.
Nobody is suggesting that the Services don't need and deserve the best around. That has always been the case but sadly if you believe they have ever had it then sorry but it's naive. For example Nuclear Subs. At least one of them is patroling beneath the waves at any given time and it is true that they have a capability. However, whether that capability actually works all of the time is debateable. Do you think they are going to tell you? Course not but it isn't only true of this Country it's true of all of them,. You need to understand though that the procurement of the stuff in the first place has everything to do with politics and who owns shares in the Companies and virtually nothing to do with usefulness or giving the people who have to use them the best there is. I left the RN in 1979 and apart from personnel some things never change.
Nothing is perfect obviously but our defence procurement is shambolic. Anybody remember the attempt to upgrade the Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft by a complete refit of new engines and electronics? Ill conceived in 1996, cancelled in 2010 at a cost of £3.4 billion, leaving the UK without the ability to track submarines from the air until 2020, when we took delivery of American aircraft. During that time, the UK’s own ballistic missile submarines forming the nuclear deterrent could not be properly protected with our own resources.
Just to keep sensible happy...I'm going to have a moan or two. At present Mrs Plym is having renal problems....her kidneys are not working properly....and she has water retention in her feet, legs, tummy etc....she has been on a strong steroid dose for three weeks now and they have increased the water tablets from one to four a day (supposed to help drain the liquid)....there might be some signs of improvement.....the body is a wonderful thing...because the kidneys are not ridding the body of liquids and impurities' through urine...it is doing it with large water blisters on her legs... that have been leaking since last Friday....and we have a community nurse popping in to change the bandages every few days....infection might be the problem because the steroids lower the immune system. So I'm basically a carer at present.....hardly ever leaving home.....needing a hair cut quite badly....none of this is my moan. Moans. 1.....Car insurance due this month....quote has gone up BY 250% FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR.....I do less than 4000 miles a year drive very local have many years of no claim bonus.....drive a 1400cc car....husband and wife insured....no claims protection and replacement car if necessary. I phoned insurer and by dropping all of the "perks" mentioned above they dropped nearly £200 off...but that was still double last years quote....still not good enough. Been on go.compare with my details...and the best I can find is still more than 150% higher than last years cost. They don't mention age any of them...but it must be the main factor....although last years quote was with us both over 80 yrs old. About 20% of insurers said I was uninsurable.....which was saying...without saying that they do not insure over eighties. 2.....This will please sensible not.....The useless POST OFFICE....nothing is never said about deliveries....a year or so ago you would see a parked PO van in our area every day as the posties went their round.....that doesn't happen anymore....the van is only around twice a week and not always on the same days.....so it seems we only get deliveries twice a week....not helpful when you get a letter from the NHS telling you about a clinic they want you to attend at the local hospital....and you've missed the appointment..... Postmen around here are the scruffiest ill dressed people around....they'd get thrown out of the local soup kitchen dressed like that. Not sure how often the Post Box is emptied....they never change the collection tag on the front anymore....we do know that Post Boxes are not emptied on a Saturday or Sunday...that has been the case for awhile. Years back a postman was a local safety check on the elderly....they would notice milk left out from yesterday etc...etc...but not anymore...they leave letters hanging out of letter boxes etc....showing that a property hasn't anyone at home or that they are away. Now we cannot use old stamps....we have to fill a form in and send them off for a refund.....why can't we take them in to a Post Office (if you can find one) and get them replaced over the counter. I'm getting stressed out and Mrs Plym needs me so I'll stop there.
The reason car insurance has gone up is increased costs of repair, which is understandable given the rate of inflation, but also the prohibition of offering discounts to new customers. In order to continue to offer low headline prices, they've carved out extras like windscreen cover, hire cars, overseas cover and legal protection that were previously in most policies and are now charging for them as extras, Some of the big insurers have also set up captive subsidiaries with unrelated names which can offer lower prices to "new" customers even if they're coming from policies with their parent companies. I got a quote from my insurer which was 20% up on last year despite an extra year of NCD. I went to one of the "new" companies (Flow, underwritten by LV). It's still higher than last year but by something more inline with the RPI. I mentioned that I didn't get my recent quarterly water bill. This month, I haven't received a statement for the credit card we use for all our domestic costs. I always pay it off in full but if I was late, the interest charge would be big because it's the largest single bill for the month. It may yet turn up but the statement date was 26th August, due for payment on 20th September and it hasn't shown up yet. I gather the NHS is suffering with a higher than normal number of no-shows at appointments of various kinds because the notification letters haven't reached the patients.
.....And then there is the other extreme....an NHS letter arriving with a clinic date on it... that at first glance was yesterday....BUT....look again the year quoted is 2024....so it is a follow up and yearly review a year later ?
Moan away Plymborn moan away. Basically there isn't any of the problems you listed that are actually down to the posty except mail hanging out of letterboxes. They wear the uniform they are provided with so it is scruffy because it's what they were given. They only deliver a few times a week now. Same over the Country. It's what the bosses have decided. Emptying post boxes sames as deliveries. Not picking up on milk left on doorsteps. Could be because the milkman doesn't deliver anymore so no bottles to find. Stamp swop down to management not posties. The insurance is being increased throughout not just for cars. It's a rip off and has been for years.
It's not down to the individual postman but the Post Office is under statutory obligations to deliver mail on time which they are failing to achieve everywhere in the country. Although I don't blame the individual, I do blame the union, just as I blame the rail unions for the absence of trains on most days of the year. We don't use the penny-black anymore and if the Post Office wants to survive, it can't continue to use the working practices that came in with it.
