Defence Secretary

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benny14
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by benny14 »

Starting to like the new DS. Better than the spineless Fallon.

abc123
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by abc123 »

Well, we will see in a few months how much of this is smoke screen and what's the truth. When I heard that Williamson was appointed as Defence Secretary, I have to admit that I remembered what Churchill ( or someone else ) said when he heard that Thomas Inskip was appointed as first Defence Secretary. I hope that I was wrong... :lol:
Fortune favors brave sir, said Carrot cheerfully.
What's her position about heavily armed, well prepared and overmanned armies?
Oh, noone's ever heard of Fortune favoring them, sir.
According to General Tacticus, it's because they favor themselves…

topman
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by topman »

I suppose we'll find out whether getting into an argument with someone you want to win over works or doesn't.

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ArmChairCivvy
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

dmereifield wrote:. She does need to throw some red meat to the back benchers as well.
Well, she does need to do and achieve so many things. May be Gavin is actually Felix Leiter, who by no fault of his own, gets to be fed to the sharks, like in the early Bond film.
- to keep that [defence] show, if not on the road, but moving at least -to the satisfaction of the back benchers
- while the main act is being played out on a bigger screen, in the same movie theater
topman wrote: we'll find out whether getting into an argument with someone you want to win over works or doesn't.
- knowing how the accounts work might make it an uneven match?
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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SKB
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by SKB »


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SKB
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by SKB »

MOD Statement on UK, US and France Syria Strike

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Halidon
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by Halidon »

SKB wrote:MOD Statement on UK, US and France Syria Strike
Didn't Cameron lose a vote on Striking Syria? May just skipped the vote?

dmereifield
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by dmereifield »

Halidon wrote:
SKB wrote:MOD Statement on UK, US and France Syria Strike
Didn't Cameron lose a vote on Striking Syria? May just skipped the vote?
She doesn't require a vote, and I'm pleased that she hasn't reinforced this misconception (and precedent set by Cameron) that parliamentary approval is required

benny14
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by benny14 »

Cameron wanted to have free reign to target Assad. May wanted a one time punishing strike. Very different situations.

matt00773
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by matt00773 »

dmereifield wrote: She doesn't require a vote, and I'm pleased that she hasn't reinforced this misconception (and precedent set by Cameron) that parliamentary approval is required
Indeed. A parliamentary vote may be appropriate in certain situations, but not when you want to spring a surprise attack. In the case of the usage of chemical weapons, it would give time to those wishing to cover it up.

SDL
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by SDL »

Which the Orange one gave them...

JayDee
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by JayDee »

Not sure if this was posted anywhere else. i also know its the daily mail

Give me £20billion or I'll bring you down: Defence Secretary’s astonishing threat to Theresa May in bitter row over military cuts

Formidable array of political and military figures are lining up behind Gavin Williamson in his power struggle with No 10
He has warned the PM that if she did not commit an extra £20 billion to the Ministry of Defence then Tory MPs would vote down the next Budget
According to one source, Mr Williamson promised to ‘crush’ the Treasury over the issue

A source close to Mr Williamson said last night: ‘Gavin is a Defence Secretary who for the first time in a decade is putting up a fight to retain Britain’s place at the top table. There is a dogfight going on at the heart of Government and Gavin is right to defend Britain’s tier one status.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... at-PM.html

Caribbean
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by Caribbean »

Not sure I believe that report - it seems odd that he would threaten so openly.
The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
Winston Churchill

SDL
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by SDL »

Smells like a slow news day 'article' to me

abc123
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by abc123 »

JayDee wrote:Not sure if this was posted anywhere else. i also know its the daily mail

Give me £20billion or I'll bring you down: Defence Secretary’s astonishing threat to Theresa May in bitter row over military cuts

Formidable array of political and military figures are lining up behind Gavin Williamson in his power struggle with No 10
He has warned the PM that if she did not commit an extra £20 billion to the Ministry of Defence then Tory MPs would vote down the next Budget
According to one source, Mr Williamson promised to ‘crush’ the Treasury over the issue

A source close to Mr Williamson said last night: ‘Gavin is a Defence Secretary who for the first time in a decade is putting up a fight to retain Britain’s place at the top table. There is a dogfight going on at the heart of Government and Gavin is right to defend Britain’s tier one status.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... at-PM.html
It would be nice if it's true...
:thumbup:
Fortune favors brave sir, said Carrot cheerfully.
What's her position about heavily armed, well prepared and overmanned armies?
Oh, noone's ever heard of Fortune favoring them, sir.
According to General Tacticus, it's because they favor themselves…

Jdam
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by Jdam »

Its been leaked for a reason, is it to put pressure on May or put pressure on Williamson by putting him on the defensive?

SDL
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by SDL »

It's the Fail.... They're probably still butthurt over the fact they're not going to be able to celebrate all immigrants being kicked out the country on Brexit day...

This is a May pressure 'punishment' move by that shit rag.

sunstersun
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by sunstersun »

He's gotta learn to play both sides of the stick. Can't be kicking doors down all the time.

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SKB
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by SKB »




Jumped or pushed?! :mrgreen:

SDL
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by SDL »

i think anyone stepping away now is jumping before being pushed

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RichardIC
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by RichardIC »

SKB wrote:Jumped or pushed?!
He'll have promised it to one of his cronies. What a complete national embarrassment.

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Pseudo
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by Pseudo »

SKB wrote:Jumped or pushed?!
Pushed, apparently.
RichardIC wrote:He'll have promised it to one of his cronies. What a complete national embarrassment.
I'm not a fan of Morduant generally, but by all accounts she was doing a better job than her recent predecessors.

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RichardIC
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by RichardIC »

And for those of you who thought Boris would bat more for defence than May. Here's his first speech as PM - animal welfare gets more attention.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49102495


Good afternoon.

I have just been to see Her Majesty the Queen who has invited me to form a government and I have accepted.

I pay tribute to the fortitude and patience of my predecessor and her deep sense of public service.

But in spite of all her efforts, it has become clear that there are pessimists at home and abroad who think that after three years of indecision, that this country has become a prisoner to the old arguments of 2016 and that in this home of democracy we are incapable of honouring a basic democratic mandate.

And so I am standing before you today to tell you, the British people, that those critics are wrong.

The doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters - they are going to get it wrong again.

The people who bet against Britain are going to lose their shirts, because we are going to restore trust in our democracy and we are going to fulfil the repeated promises of Parliament to the people and come out of the EU on October 31, no ifs or buts.

And we will do a new deal, a better deal that will maximise the opportunities of Brexit while allowing us to develop a new and exciting partnership with the rest of Europe, based on free trade and mutual support.

I have every confidence that in 99 days' time we will have cracked it. But you know what - we aren't going to wait 99 days, because the British people have had enough of waiting.

The time has come to act, to take decisions, to give strong leadership and to change this country for the better.

And though the Queen has just honoured me with this extraordinary office of state my job is to serve you, the people.
Because if there is one point we politicians need to remember, it is that the people are our bosses.

My job is to make your streets safer - and we are going to begin with another 20,000 police on the streets and we start recruiting forthwith.

My job is to make sure you don't have to wait 3 weeks to see your GP - and we start work this week, with 20 new hospital upgrades, and ensuring that money for the NHS really does get to the front line.

My job is to protect you or your parents or grandparents from the fear of having to sell your home to pay for the costs of care.
And so I am announcing now - on the steps of Downing Street - that we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared to give every older person the dignity and security they deserve.

My job is to make sure your kids get a superb education, wherever they are in the country - and that's why we have already announced that we are going to level up per pupil funding in primary and secondary schools.

And that is the work that begins immediately behind that black door.

And though I am today building a great team of men and women, I will take personal responsibility for the change I want to see.
Never mind the backstop - the buck stops here.

And I will tell you something else about my job. It is to be prime minister of the whole United Kingdom.

And that means uniting our country, answering at last the plea of the forgotten people and the left-behind towns by physically and literally renewing the ties that bind us together.

So that with safer streets and better education and fantastic new road and rail infrastructure and full fibre broadband we level up across Britain with higher wages, and a higher living wage, and higher productivity.

We close the opportunity gap, giving millions of young people the chance to own their own homes and giving business the confidence to invest across the UK.

Because it is time we unleashed the productive power not just of London and the South East, but of every corner of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The awesome foursome that are incarnated in that red, white, and blue flag - who together are so much more than the sum of their parts, and whose brand and political personality is admired and even loved around the world.

For our inventiveness, for our humour, for our universities, our scientists, our armed forces, our diplomacy for the equalities on which we insist - whether race or gender or LGBT or the right of every girl in the world to 12 years of quality education - and for the values we stand for around the world.

Everyone knows the values that flag represents.

It stands for freedom and free speech and habeas corpus and the rule of law, and above all it stands for democracy.
And that is why we will come out of the EU on October 31.

Because in the end, Brexit was a fundamental decision by the British people that they wanted their laws made by people that they can elect and they can remove from office.

And we must now respect that decision, and create a new partnership with our European friends - as warm and as close and as affectionate as possible.

And the first step is to repeat unequivocally our guarantee to the 3.2 million EU nationals now living and working among us, and I say directly to you - thank you for your contribution to our society.

Thank you for your patience, and I can assure you that under this government you will get the absolute certainty of the rights to live and remain.

And next I say to our friends in Ireland, and in Brussels and around the EU: I am convinced that we can do a deal without checks at the Irish border, because we refuse under any circumstances to have such checks and yet without that anti-democratic backstop.

And it is of course vital at the same time that we prepare for the remote possibility that Brussels refuses any further to negotiate, and we are forced to come out with no deal, not because we want that outcome - of course not - but because it is only common sense to prepare.

And let me stress that there is a vital sense in which those preparations cannot be wasted, and that is because under any circumstances we will need to get ready at some point in the near future to come out of the EU customs union and out of regulatory control, fully determined at last to take advantage of Brexit.

Because that is the course on which this country is now set.

With high hearts and growing confidence, we will now accelerate the work of getting ready.

And the ports will be ready and the banks will be ready, and the factories will be ready, and business will be ready, and the hospitals will be ready, and our amazing food and farming sector will be ready and waiting to continue selling ever more, not just here but around the world.

And don't forget that in the event of a no deal outcome, we will have the extra lubrication of the £39 billion, and whatever deal we do we will prepare this autumn for an economic package to boost British business and to lengthen this country's lead as the number one destination in this continent for overseas investment.

And to all those who continue to prophesy disaster, I say yes - there will be difficulties, though I believe that with energy and application they will be far less serious than some have claimed.

But if there is one thing that has really sapped the confidence of business over the last three years, it is not the decisions we have taken - it is our refusal to take decisions.

And to all those who say we cannot be ready, I say do not underestimate this country.

Do not underestimate our powers of organisation and our determination, because we know the enormous strengths of this economy in life sciences, in tech, in academia, in music, the arts, culture, financial services.

It is here in Britain that we are using gene therapy, for the first time, to treat the most common form of blindness.
Here in Britain that we are leading the world in the battery technology that will help cut CO2 and tackle climate change and produce green jobs for the next generation.

And as we prepare for a post-Brexit future, it is time we looked not at the risks but at the opportunities that are upon us.
So let us begin work now to create free ports that will drive growth and thousands of high-skilled jobs in left-behind areas.
Let's start now to liberate the UK's extraordinary bioscience sector from anti-genetic modification rules, and let's develop the blight-resistant crops that will feed the world.

Let's get going now on our own position navigation and timing satellite and earth observation systems - UK assets orbiting in space, with all the long term strategic and commercial benefits for this country.

Let's change the tax rules to provide extra incentives to invest in capital and research.

And let's promote the welfare of animals that has always been so close to the hearts of the British people.

And yes, let's start now on those free trade deals - because it is free trade that has done more than anything else to lift billions out of poverty.

All this and more we can do now and only now, at this extraordinary moment in our history.

And after three years of unfounded self-doubt, it is time to change the record.

To recover our natural and historic role as an enterprising, outward-looking and truly global Britain, generous in temper and engaged with the world.

No one in the last few centuries has succeeded in betting against the pluck and nerve and ambition of this country.
They will not succeed today.

We in this government will work flat out to give this country the leadership it deserves, and that work begins now.
Thank you very much.

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SDL
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by SDL »



who?

Monty1985
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Re: Defence Secretary

Post by Monty1985 »

Ex Army apparently, went to Sandhurst and everything. There's goes the chances for extra ships then, bollocks.

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