While Cameron basks in brief admiration, Brown must be wondering whether his latest wheeze was quite so wise. His decision to visit the troops in Basra not only made him look like a particularly cynical opportunist and Machiavellian spinner - bad news for someone who claims he is neither - but it might also remind people that this man was the second most senior member of the government that started the war. Not only is Gordon Brown every bit as responsible for the Iraq war as his predecessor, his shamefully tight funding has resulted in poor equipment being sent out to British troops, including the lack of bullet-proof jackets that has been shown to be the reason for at least one preventable army death. Perhaps when he sees the troops he underfunds at close quarters, Brown should make sure he at least has one of the three available bullet-proof vests to wear.
7 comments:
Nice blog. I've given you a reciproval link. And yes, I have got lots of things I ought to be doing :-)
Cheers for that - and I know the feeling, but sounding off (or blogging as we like to call it) is much more fun!
Hello Giles.
So this is what you do with your free time these days is it? And remarkably it appears you have staying power having contributed for over a year. Well done.
Do you see yourself as a poor-mans Ian Dale? Is this blog cleared by the SGS IT Department?
It was good to see you briefly at the Old Sutts dinner the other night and my apologies we didn't talk longer (perhaps this was deliberate on your part, who knows!).
I see you have reviewed the Cameron speech rather well. Good presentation but piss-poor on any policy. Still, with a general election looming he is probably holding back a little.
On a final aside, I am currently re-assessing my career choice. What do you think of teaching secondary-level History at a small but well respected boys school? Is it a good gig?
I shall endeavour to stay in contact with witty political diatribes as and when I see fit.
Best regards
DC (that's Carnell, not Cameron)
Caustic as ever Mr. Carnell, and no, the brevity of our conversation was not deliberate! History teaching? A ball, honest! Send me your email details!
My email details are david_carnell@fakehotmail.co.uk with the necessary removal of fake.
Be good to hear from you.
Got a good bunch for AS/A Level Politics this year. Need a guest speaker!??!!
I'll take the liberty of answering for 'sir' by saying that the AS group this year is particularly fantastic. Its quite a nice idea to make remarks about the poor quality of the army's equipment when the CCF mob's uniform is always looking so poor. I'm not talking about on parades- just about the times that Stotter and co. wear it into school in combination with their suits. I hear parts of the kit are being used at a fancy dress party this weekend by some year 12 individuals. I'm sure they can't be doing anything nearly as bad as what happens on those camps though.
CCF uniform in combination with a suit. Ye gads! What is SGS coming to? Wouldn't have happened in my day etc.
They are a rather strange bunch cadets. The kit was out of date when I gave it a (short lived) bash about ten years ago so god knows what it's like now. The rifles were the only relatively modern bit and they were made of plastic so broke easily.
If you want a well equipped modern army (and cadet force) you have to pay for it. Something the Treasury seemed inclined not to do. Even as a Labour man, I can see this as utter folly.
Best of British with your AS Level and quote Lord Acton to impress GM...."power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely"
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