UK Forces: Thousands face redundancy

Hello ATS, firstly im not much of a poster or thread creater so please go easy on me if i mess things up.

Was using my sky news app to see whats been happening lately and read about how the UKs armed forces are facing redundancy cuts. Being from the UK it really worries me and angers me at the same time. At times where our soldiers (and other nations) are fighting a silly was in Afghanistan, our country decides to decrease its forces. Maybe the Government feels its doesnt need so much and now can rely on better technology but at this present time i see no improvement in Afghanistan, and now action in Libya. It just worries me that so many servicemen and women will lose their jobs that they have trained hard and are proud to do their job, for those serving in war zones it worries me about their safety.

It questions me as to whether the Government actually care about the people working in the forces. Whats other peoples views or am i not seeing the big picture? Anyway here is the link to the sky news page

sky news

Apologies if this has already been posted please move or delete if nessacary

In the 1930's prior to the second world war, the British forces were at a low ebb......... they had been run down to a skeleton force because there were bigger priorites caused by the great depression of the late 20's and early 30's.......(sort of sounds similar doesn't it ??)... Then with the rise of the Insular and Nationalist behaviour of countries A German Madman took hold and we all know the rest...........

We live in different times (?) apparently and we all know that couldn't happen again, BUT history has a subtle way of repeating itself........... especially when there are so few left from that time to stand up and argue against poor decisions today..............

''Never again'' was a quote from the first world war......... now we have already had a second.... bets on a third please !!!!!

Regarding the job lossess.......... I for one would be happy to see a complete BLANKET of reductions across all public sector jobs. along the lines of this...........

Anyone earning
£0 - £17k per year = -5% reduction
£17k - £30k = - 7.5% reduction
£30k - £50k = - 10% reduction
above £50k = 15% reduction

Reasoning because DID YOU KNOW that 66 % of the NHS budget is in Salaries alone......... the biggest single contributary factor.

WE ALL have to get REAL and we have been living above our means for too long........... in the Private Sector Salaries have been reversed for years.............

PDUK

Can you explain a bit simpler for me lol. I got the slight jist of what you were saying. I dont know whether you were saying this is a good or bad thing, sorry i dont mean to sound rude im pretty much a newbie.

reply to post by ThePeaceMaker


TPM

Regarding the Forces Job Losses then I definitely think this is a bad thing...

But for these losses NOT to occur then we have to redress the budget elsewhere because we are living 'above our current means'....

My point is that for the past decade or so everyone has become very used to having everything and being able to buy, borrow and visit anywhere at will....... Our average standard of living has shot up (and for a significant number increased alot) based on the growth of salaries....... The public sector 'in a race' to match the private sector has seen an explosion of salaries and benefits, which, are now being shown to be unaffordable..!!

We as a country cannot maintain that level and support the additional benefits that those expect later in life....... it's simple mathematics....... the previous Government sold the Public sector a lie and it is a little un-palatable now!!!

My 'salary reduction' idea is a ''rebalance'' across ALL public sector bodies, Military included...... I do however conceed that personal putting themselves in the line of fire, (as I have done in the past) should recieve additional payments and benefits that those behind desks, or infront of the general public should not......

Regards

PDUK

Purple thanks for the reply i see what you are getting at now. Which was why i said if i wasnt seeing the big picture and taking the story for what it is and not looking deeper into it. Truth is im not that clever lol. But no thanks for the reply, this truely is a dark time for us all

Originally posted by ThePeaceMaker
Purple thanks for the reply i see what you are getting at now. Which was why i said if i wasnt seeing the big picture and taking the story for what it is and not looking deeper into it. Truth is im not that clever lol. But no thanks for the reply, this truely is a dark time for us all

TPM

Never admit to being not clever........... most are not (I don't proclaim to be either) but as you said ''seeing the bigger picture'' is always FAR MORE important than a reactionary cooment based on a snippet of information...

When you watch the news or see a headline, the majority of people will react based on 'limited facts'..... Their emotions get ahead of themselves and they start to complain without OFFERING any solutions or alternative ideas....

The current Political situation always makes me laugh because the current opposition ' scream and complain about the current dilemma' YET they are the ones whom caused it ....!!!! It's actually quite pathetic really......

The WORRYING thing is that there is a growing proportion of the population who have forgotten who WAS rsponsible for our current mess because it means that they will have to not have EVERYTHING they have become USED to.........

Learn to live within your means, see the bigger picture and become responsible for yourself and that is the BEST you can do for yourself.....

Regards

PDUK