Strategic Defence Review

The right wing of the Tory Party will bring down this coalition & cut David Cameron's throat without blinking as soon as they think it might provoke a general election which they can win & only they can afford. The leaked [how convenient] letter from Liam Fox could be viewed as a first opportunity & skirmish in this process.

In truth the country does not need any form of Trident replacement. Since we can't fire the missiles without approval from Washington it was arguably a nonsense when it was first built all those years ago.[I had some minor personal involvement in those days]. We don't need tranche 3b of Eurofighter - nor does BAE Systems. The future is Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAV) & BAE is putting huge effort into those (just as Fylde LibDems were arguing they should during the 2005 General Election). The CVF Aircraft carriers? Well as an island nation we do need to be able to build big ships but it's doubtful if these are the right ones. I have been following the progress of these vessels through the politics, design & procurement for best part of five years & to be brief they are already massively over budget & years behind schedule and have serious questions about endurance.

If these 'ego polishing' projects were cut or massively re-worked, combined with pruning of the hugely overweight MoD Civil Service and Senior Officer ranks, there would not be a need for more defence cuts. Indeed it is probable we could give more numbers, equipment & support to the 'poor bloody infantry' that are so marvelously doing the last Labour Governments dirty work on the ground & still save a stack of money.

The private life of media bosses.

If I had the money I would love to spend it on 'investigative journalism' and 'sting' operations into the private lives of the movers and shakers in our great & glorious media. Have none of them ever visited prostitutes or had extra marital affairs? Does any one remember the almost total absence of comment in the organs of News International when the great Rupert was getting his divorce? Does anybody actually care (except Mrs Rooney of course) what Wayne Rooney might have done with his sex life? Aforesaid movers & shakers might claim that they are not public figures & thus their private behaviour is not a matter of public interest. What rubbish. They wield more power than any politician & should be subject to rigorous & continuous scrutiny in the public interest that they profess to care so much about.