UKIP will support and strengthen Armed Services

It was the late Margaret Thatcher who once correctly observed that “the defence budget is one of the very few elements of public expenditure that can truly be described as essential”.

Indeed, throughout her time in office, Baroness Thatcher won many friends amongst the large Armed Services family in the UK for supporting her brave boys more than most post-war prime ministers.

Since she left office, however, successive governments have raided the defence budget, squeezed the capability for operational deployment and hacked away at troop numbers. This dysfunctional coalition of posh boys with little real world experience is no different, and their attitude to our armed services was a key factor in my decision to leave the Conservative Party.

The days in which ex-servicemen swamped the House of Commons are long gone, but that does not mean that their interests are any less relevant. Perhaps just as importantly, our national defence interests are jeopardised by a bureaucratic and political Ministry of Defence led by a succession of defence secretaries with no military experience, paying lip service to our forces family whilst disgracefully turning their backs on them.

I have seen the effects of willful inaction and unrelenting cuts through my involvement with the Royal Air Forces Association and the Royal British Legion. I have also seen the effects of government cuts passed on to the cadet movement since my recent return to the Air Cadets.

That is why I was pleased to see the UKIP Defence Policy 2013, released this week, make disbanding the MOD over the course of a parliament one of their priorities. They (rightly) say:

Soldiers, sailors and airmen win wars- not civil servants no matter how worthy. The Ministry of Defence is not fit for purpose, nor has it been for many years – and it is very expensive –the cost of keeping 85,000 civilian staff alone will run to the order of £6 billion per year.

The UKIP policy goes into some detail about what would replace the MOD:

UKIP will disestablish the MOD, removing both the responsibility for procurement and for defence doctrine and management. A new defence ministry will be created, with primacy given to the Central Staff over civil servants. The civilian role in framing policy and strategy will cease and be left to educated military professionals.

Responsibility for the planning and conduct of operations will pass to the Chief of Joint Operations (CJO). The new ministry will have no role in this function, thus making it a Department of State rather than a military HQ.

Defence procurement will be overseen by a slimmed down and independent Defence Procurement Executive with a brief to equip the armed services with such systems and manpower as they need to achieve the government’s strategic objectives. Single service chiefs should have direct input on weaponry, platforms and logistic budget without political interference. Defence doctrine and management will return to the individual armed forces. The government of the day should, like service personnel, command ‘one down’ having established appropriate direction.

The linkage will be restored within the single services between operational analysis, doctrine, training and equipment procurement.

There can be no place in the future for equipment procurement on the basis of lobbying by constituency MPs. Jobs can be secured through striking deals with manufacturers to assemble and service equipment under licence in UK, but the services, and the defence and security of the country, cannot be held hostage to the whims of individual MPs or local political issues.

UKIP will ensure that, once the new organisations are in established, shadow ministers are brought in to the procedure to ensure strategic decisions are continued beyond the parliamentary life span.

I would thoroughly recommend anyone interested in the defence of the realm, particularly the role UKIP believes our services should be playing and how much money should be invested in defence, should read the full UKIP Defence Position. It goes into some, honest, detail about UK defence and answers many questions which have been raised about their policy in this area in the past.

Crucially, it establishes UKIP as the only party in the UK which is committed to both protecting the interests of our service personnel and national defence, the only party in the UK to formally recognise that self-interested pen-pushers in Whitehall are not as important (in fact, significantly less so) than the brave men and women who put their bodies on the line on a daily basis to protect us.

UKIP is the only party in the UK which can be trusted to honour our covenant with our Armed Services.

Medway Messenger letter: Friday, 13 July 2012

Actions speak louder than words

MAY I congratulate your paper on your valid comments regarding the Armed Services Community Covenant (Voice of Medway, Comment, July 6).

I have been brought up to recognise the dedication of our nation’s Armed Forces and support the move by Medway Council to cement our community’s support to the Armed Services community in Medway.

My grandfather served in the Second World War, with the other serving in the Royal Air Force shortly after. Both my parents have been involved in the Air Training Corps locally, inspiring new generations to live by the standards of discipline and respect fostered by the Armed Services, and, in many cases, to serve in our Armed Services as well.

I, too, was a member of the Air Training Corps for six-and-a-half years, serving on my former squadron’s civilian committee for a while after leaving, and now serve as a Trustee and the Treasurer of the Medway Towns Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association.

It is the sense of pride and respect in our Armed Services instilled during my upbringing that leads me to echo your comments regarding the new covenant.

Words of support on paper can mean a lot to those who are serving or have served their country, but they mean little without firm action backing up those commitments. For too often, those brave men and women to whom we owe our lives and our freedoms have been told by those in authority that they are only to be praised and thanked, yet have subsequently been betrayed by those same people – sometimes in almost the same breath.

Medway Council and all the other signatories to the covenant must now prove that, far from being more shallow words of praise, the covenant presents a meaningful, binding commitment to honouring and working hard for those men and women who have put their lives on the line to defend each one of us, and ensure that their right to authority – and our right to remove them from authority – is absolute.

Alan W Collins, Goudhurst Road, Gillingham

Birmingham Mail letter: Tuesday, 1 March 2011

Appalled by Legion cheat

SPEAKING as both a law student and Royal British Legion volunteer, I was horrified to read about the actions of Geoffrey Henrick in the Birmingham Mail (February 22).

Where I live in Medway (I’m here in Birmingham visiting family and friends), I have been volunteering to raise money for the Poppy Appeal since I was 12 and have supported the Royal British Legion for most of my life.

It makes me sick to the stomach whenever governments (of whatever persuasion) betray the trust and relationship they have with our services and ex-services community, but to discover that the betrayal has come from a holder of immense responsibility and trust within an organisation that has campaigned tirelessly for our Armed Forces family since its inception kills a little of the faith I have for humanity.

Alan W Collins, by email

For background to this letter, see this article in the Birmingham Mail.

Medway News letter: Friday, November 7, 2008

We still remember them

NOVEMBER 11 this year marks the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War and is a chilling reminder of the sacrifices made by millions then and since.

The Great War was supposed to be the war to end all wars, and yet millions of people have died fighting both worthwhile and pointless wars since November 11, 1918.

The brave men and women laying down their lives did so professionally for our sakes and their sacrifices should never be forgotten.

That is why we wear poppies at this time of year – to show their colleagues and families that we have not forgotten and that we still do care about their sacrifice.

This Sunday (November 9) will see many services of remembrance across Medway, and I would urge you to find out where your nearest one is and to attend – to remember those who have passed and those who continue to fight in our name.

Please turn out to remember their sacrifices and let them never be forgotten.

Alan Collins, Goudhurst Road, Twydall

Medway blogger attacks anti-war protesters for vandalising charity billboards

Medway blogger Alan Collins has attacked anti-war protesters for vandalising billboards advertising the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal.

Mr Collins, a member of the Royal British Legion and the Royal Air Forces Association, as well as a former member of the Air Training Corps, expressed his anger at the tactics used by the protesters.

“The whole point of the Poppy Appeal is to promote and finance support for servicemen who have fought bravely and professionally for our freedom,” Mr Collins said.

“They fought, and in many cases, died to give us the freedom to protest, not to give us the freedom to commit criminal acts.

“I’m not saying I don’t disagree with what the protesters are saying. There are many questions that need answering about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but this is not the way to go about getting heard.”

Alan Collins has long been a supporter of Britain’s Armed Forces, helping to collect money for the Poppy Appeal for the last few years, and his comments came after vandalism of the billboards with messages including “For their sake, bring ’em home” and “For their sake, prosecute Blair” angered him.

Mr Collins added: “the Poppy Appeal isn’t about arguing about which wars are just and which should never have been entered into. It’s about supporting and helping our servicemen and women for their bravery and professionalism.

“The fact that these people have manipulated the Poppy Appeal campaign for their own political protest is, quite frankly, disgusting.”