Labour Governments Contempt for the UK ARMED Forces

I have to post this topic, I am disgusted by the way this labour government, has shown nothing but contempt for our Armd forces, not only front-line trops, navy, airforce personell plus thier families and relatives:

U-Turn on TA Cutbacks

Description of the TA in case nobody knows what it is!

The TA is made up of volunteers who commit their spare time to training as soldiers and working with the regular army. It is divided into independent units who recruit locally and national units who recruit across the UK. All TA soldiers who are mobilised have their civilian jobs legally protected

The Territorial Army, The Government proposed to cut the training of the T/A, with a saving of £17 million per year, now they have said they have done a U-turn on this. How many members in here believe this? They will obviously bring in the cut backs through the back door, or cut back on other projects leaving our Armed men and women with the lack of resources.

Navy CutbacksPosted by deltaboy

The Royal Navy has agreed to sacrifice one of its two new aircraft carriers to save about £8.2 billion from the defence budget.

The link to the thread I have posted, speaks for itself. If this does not show the contempt this present UK Government has for our armed forces I do not know what does! In future conflicts the way this Government is going, if the Falklands are ever invaded again, god forbid, the UK will not have the resourcs to send a fleet againto liberate them.

Cost cuts blamed for Nimrod crash

Description of the Nimrod:

The Nimrod was designed as a sea patrol and anti-submarine aircraft and entered service with the Royal Air Force in the UK over 30 years ago.

A loss of life, could have been avoided if the MOD had not cut back the caosts of mantaining the Nimrod fleet, The UK Government should be held accountable for the failures which occured and also should be held accoutnable for the deaths of these Service Men.

There is loads more I could post, the above is just the tip of the iceberg, the Labour Government should go down in the history books as the Government whom brought the UK Armed forces to the brink of being nul and void. While they use Taxpayers money to bail out Banks, Fraudsters, Banks Managers, Bank Managers Bonuses, some off whom have walked away with over £500.000 pension or bonus pay off. While our frontline soldiers are in wars, with Kits that do not protect them, troops who have to write home to thier relatives, to send them small items such as toothpaste, since the MOD will not give them the resources while out in combat. Relatives being having the wrong bodies sent home to them, without being told, until it is too late. Wounded troops, or those discharged from the armed forces, not given the adequate help fromthe MOD or the Government, ove mental help, physical help or emotional help.

Once they leave they are goven no help what so ever.

I will be posting more later. I would like some feedback from other members on this thank you


.

reply to post by Laurauk


Laura, I agree with you 100%.
But this isn't unique to this government.
There has been a systematic dismantling of our armed forces starting at least as far back as Thatcher.
We have become a shadow of our former selves.
We could not defend our own shores nowadays and would have to rely on NATO or the EU to come to our defence, a situation I for one am very uncomfortable with.

Why has every government done this?
I don't know but suspect the reasons are many and varied and certainly not with the best intersts of Britain at heart.

reply to post by Freeborn


Look at how much taxpayers money has been given away to save the banks, the ex bosses of those banks. While that money could have been used on funding for the right basic kits for our front line troops.

It is kinda funny, it was on the news today, the posters, for the poppy appeal, on billboard instead of saying help our troops it sys at the end of it: Think of the Families, hold Blair accountable! Quite an ironic statement!

reply to post by Laurauk

I agree with you as well, being English I can't help but feel sorry for all our troops whether Army, Airforce or Navy , even the TA, the Government wants them to fight for 'our' freedom but then turn around and don't issue the bullets, what are they going to fight with? strong language? flowers?
I too see these 'support our troops and their families' signs
- 'do it for their sake'. But I picture something different, I have 2 variations.

1st , a sign with Bank Bosses and Government Ministers laughing and having a party whilst the signage says ' buy a poppy and do it for their sake'.

2nd , or a sign depicting a minister leaving his home, his family waving goodbye and it saying ' He won't be coming home tonight, he's fighting for his lavish lifestyle and his political career - buy a poppy and do it for his sake'.

I think either of those would really open the publics eyes onto what the war really is about. We citizens don't get any benefit, we don't feel any safer, we have homegrown terrorism, lax courts, sharia law becoming more prevelant in more and more courts, yet our soldiers are dying to protect 'our way of life'?

The people need to realise they don't gain anything from the bank bailouts, the banks will still profit from the people anyway, the armed forces get cutbacks, jobs are lost, people even having to try and safeguard their jobs by working for no money,whilst the Ministers bleat on about mortgages on their second homes, expenses and how hard they have to work, they at least don't lose any limbs or their lives do they in defense of their country.
The Minister need to start having cutbacks , to lead by example, but that premise has long since been forgotten in the dash for cash.


[edit on 29/10/09 by DataWraith]

Personally, the way our forces have been treated by this government has me spitting fire.. It is utterly disgusting the way they have been treated, however I can't help but feel they have no regard for anyone but themselves anyway.

Edit to add: The only threat to this country is the greedy pig virus that runs through this government.. Our troops deserve so much better.

[edit on 29/10/09 by thoughtsfull]

It is not only our troops whomserve on the front lines whom the Present Govenrment has contempt for it is also the families, accomodation for soldiers in barracks within the UK!

FAMILIES of injured British soldiers today called on the Government to provide more funding to accommodate military hospital visitors.

A total of 66 soldiers were flown back from Afghanistan to Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham, for life-saving treatment last month and a further 24 have been treated in July.

The number of casualties in Afghanistan is expected to increase over the summer as the war against the Taliban is stepped up

The Hospitals these injured troops are going to are inadequate also. It is digusting how these guys are treated worse than immigrants in this country.

Accomodation Plea

We just have to look back over the last couple of years also to see how soldiers have actually broken rules by, letting relatives and the papers know, what exactly the state is of the accomodation, wages etc for our troops who are supposed to be THE BEST IN THE WORLD!

A highly sensitive internal report into the state of the British Army has revealed that many soldiers are living in poverty. Some are so poor that they are unable to eat and are forced to rely on emergency food voucher schemes set up by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Soldiers need loans to eat

reply to post by Freeborn


You know something, maybe that is what Brown wants, with this lisbon treaty, the UK would have to play a role within this European Defence Force, the UK if it was attacked today would have to rely on our european allys to help us out. Would they help us out though,now that is the question.

Look at what happened when Iran captured those navy personell, it took alot off whining and moanin on Blairs part before any of the other EU leaders would condemm the Iranians.

What makesme more angry is the fact that the current defence ministers has apologised, Hold Wait a minute! It is a little too late to apologise, the MOD knew that they were at fault even before the MOD was indicated with these cutbacks as the cause. They withheld that information, trying to save thier own backsides while the familes of those killed, have suffered not knowing the truth.

No apology is acceptable, those who ordered the cutbacks should be charged with manslaughter, but as per usual, the families of these soldiers whom were killed, will not see any justice what so ever. Everyone invovled in this should hang thier heads in shame.



[edit on 29-10-2009 by Laurauk]

reply to post by Laurauk


My partner grew up as a RAF girl and the poverty they lived under sounds dreadful.. But it does seem that it is a lot worse now.

I worked in the mid 80s on a DOE project upgrading one of the MOD bases, the accommodation and catering facilities where dreadful, they had not been upgraded since the 1930s.. I wonder if they have since upgraded further or they are still the same as we left them in the mid 80s...

The way we treat our troops has always disgusted me, however it seems to just get worse and not better.


Edit to add: put it this way the camp was so poorly heated that the base had to be closed as the water supply had frozen and the heating stopped working.. the only sinks were outside with stand pipes and long icicles, even the cisterns in the toilets froze, the excuse the MOD used was that the soldiers needed to get used to battle field experience... bare in mind this is in the South... so what soldiers suffered further north has always bothered me deeply.


[edit on 29/10/09 by thoughtsfull]