Labour position on defence now equates to "have guns but no bullets" - another bizarre announcement criticised

Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party staggers from worse to worse on matters military / armed forces.
On Sunday he was interviewed on Marr on BBC1. His approach was then expanded upon in defence questions yesterday.
Calling for a Vanguard submarine without warheads by Labour is as dumb as calling for soldiers to be marched into battle with rifles but no ammunition. It ensures the troops become targets but gives them no ability to defend themselves.

Worse still, by announcing it on national media any enemy will know that, if they can be found, they can be forced to surrender or killed.
Even labour MPs criticised Corbyn's approach: this from Kevan Jones, labour MP yesterday-

‘Would the minister agree that it’s not just about the number of jobs involved in the successor programme, but the high-skilled nature of those jobs? Despite ill-informed comments from my own party at the weekend with regard to those jobs, would he not also agree with me that simply you cannot turn them on and off like a tap when you need them.’

There were then interventions backing the nuclear deterrent from a number of other MPs, including Angela Smith, Madeleine Moon and John Woodcock. 

Corbyn's Labour approach is an extraordinary plan. Both disarmament and expensive, ineffective job creation. Worst of all, it is dangerous. By giving the semblance of credibility to those who have consistently sought to destroy our defences, this job scheme not only robs the taxpayer, it deceives them. It encourages our enemies to think us weak, encouraging them to act and makes war more, not less, likely. In pretending the money spent is the effect sought, it is in keeping with his philosophy elsewhere, but it is a lie.
The money spent on defence has a purpose – to defend our people, not just employ them.
The former Army officer Tom Tugendhat MP has written of why the Labour approach is so wrong.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/Jeremy_Corbyn/12105376/Jeremy-Corbyn-is-no-pacifist-he-wants-to-see-Britain-defeated.html

Packed weekend ahead but Remembrance Sunday I shall be in Prudhoe - make sure you pay your respects wherever you are

This Sunday I shall be in Prudhoe, paying my respects to our fallen servicemen and women both in church and outside. I rotate my attendance so that I go to a different major town every few years. I will be returning for the civic lunch organised in Hexham after the church service and 11am commemoration. Wherever you are I urge you to go to church or your local war memorial to say thank you, and that we will never forget. Today I am helping to choose our police and crime commissioner candidate for the May 2016 election and then conducting an action day meeting local voters.
The photo to the right I took this week where the RBL volunteers are assembling the poppy garden outside Westminster Abbey. There are special designated areas for our local regiments, notably the RA and RHA who presently occupy Albemarle Barracks.

22 January 1879 is Rorkes Drift day - 11 Victoria Crosses awarded -a British Army record

11 Victoria Crosses were won this day and overnight into the 23 January 1879. A study of the battle reveals why. Just over 150 British and local troops successfully defended the simple garrison against an intense assault by 3,000 - 4,000 Zulus. They did so with superior weaponry, a lot of guts, and a well formed defensive position, hastily erected. More details of the battle here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rorke%27s_Drift

If you get the chance ever to go to the battle site I urge you to do so; I travelled there long ago when hiking around South Africa and have never forgotten it. Failing that try and listen to Rob Caskie on one of his battlefield tours, when he comes to the UK this autumn. http://www.robcaskie.com/ Rob transfixed the Hexham audience in October 2014 and 2013, when he gave a talk for Tynedale Hospice. 

World War One Christmas Truce Football game for the Army Benevolent Fund - All Party MP group lose 6-1 to the Army

http://www.londonlive.co.uk/news/2014-12-10/it-may-not-have-been-england-vs-germany-but-it-was-almost-as-competitive
Football [and the Army Team] was the winner when a group of MPs played an Army Benevolent Fund match a couple of weeks back early one sunny morning to celebrate the 1914 Christmas Truce. There is no doubt which was the fitter side! Jim Murphy, MP, the new Scottish Labour Leader, captained the side and made the point that with 3 political parties all playing together, and losing 6-1, we spent a lot of the time shouting at each other ...and not a lot of time passing accurately to each other. Jims interview is good fun and the 1 minute highlight above is humbling and well worth a watch.
The match was for a very good cause, and the army lads were a great bunch:
http://www.soldierscharity.org/

Commemoration of WW1 Debate in the Commons today - 100 years after death of Franz Ferdinand

Around 12.15 there will be a debate on how we as a country are commerating the First World War, and also a discussion of the contriubtion o many members of local communities up and down the country.
I hope to be able to contribute to the debate but I am spending most of the afternoon opn Home Office business in Westminster Hall on the student debate.
The debate is timely as the murder of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28th 1914 is accepted by historians as the immediate cause of World War One, though serious trouble had been brewing for sometime. It is good that we as a parliament are discussing and debating the way in which we as a country are remembering the hundreds of thousdands of lost soldiers, sailors and airmen.

On June 28th 1914, the heir to the Austrian Empire, Franz Ferdinand, was visiting Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. Bosnia was in the very south-east corner of the Austrian empire and some people there wanted to be independent from Austria and set up their own state which could run itself. Franz Ferdinand had been warned that his visit could provoke trouble but he ignored this advice and visited Sarajevo regardless. As was common at the time, he travelled in an open topped car.

Franz Joseph and his wife

There had been trouble at the start of his royal tour of Sarajevo when another car in his entourage was hit by a grenade and an Austrian officer had been injured. However, Franz Ferdinand wanted to demonstrate that his family was in control of Sarajevo, and to have stopped the tour would have been seen as a sign of weakness by those who did not want Bosnia and Sarajevo ruled by the Austrians, so he directed a trip to the hospital to see the officer. Driving to the hospital his driver did not fully understand his instructions and got lost.

Stopping to check where he was, the driver attempted to reverse out on to the main street. By bad luck, he stopped right by a man called Gavrilo Princip. He was a member of the Black Hand Gang which wanted to rid Bosnia of Austrian rule. He had also been behind the grenade throwing and was now trying to disguise himself among the many people who lined the streets fearing the police might arrest him. Not believing his luck, Princip pulled out the revolver he had on him and shot Franz and his wife. Both died as a result. The slow march to world war 1 between many of the European powers, including Britain was about to begin.
War followed weeks later.