Big Society, Small Military?

Being republican with both a big and a small R the Celtic Sage is hardly an admirer of British militarism or imperialism. How could I be given their history in Ireland and my belief that the people are sovereign – I believe in being a citizen, not a subject? There is still too much unfinished business out there from the days of Empire which indicates that “Perfidious” and “Albion” are still two words which go together. Witness the shameful dispossession of the inhabitants of Diego Garcia, the abandonment of their allies against the Japanese the brave Karen people of Burma, their ignoring of the oppression of the Tamils in Sri Lanka since independence and the shabby racist treatment of ex Ghurkha soldiers and their families. Then there were the squalid post-colonial misadventures in Kenya, Aden, Cyprus and Suez to name a few which suggest “Our Boys” as they are known in gender prejudice Tabloid Land have frequently been ill used by politicians. Then there was the Mother of all Illegal Wars, where Britain was not just unconscious of the present in Iraq but apparently also unaware of its shameful past in that country.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/britain-in-iraq.html


Nevertheless if you are not a pacifist you accept that Britain needs Armed Forces which must be properly resourced. You must also accept that there is a special compact to look after members of the Services who are prepared to die or be maimed to defend you and I - The Military Covenant. However I doesn’t recall either the Great Empire Defenders aka The Tories of the Lib Dems who form the Coalition of Opportunism which is grinding the UK back to the Stone Age tell the electors “Elect us and we’ll destroy the Army, Navy and RAF!” Nope, I never heard that before the election, did you?



No siree this was not the election platform but yet the UK’s Armed Forces are being ritually disembowelled on parade grounds around the world as we write. The Flagship of the Royal Navy Carrier Ark Royal and the entire Harrier Jet Force are being scrapped, £4 Bn of Nimrod Spy Planes (ordered by Conservative, Michael Portillo when they were in last time) will never fly and are being cut up. In the most significant changes to Britain’s defences since the post-Suez review of 1957, ministers and officials plan to scrap large parts of the Armed Forces. The Services will lose up to 16,000 personnel, hundreds of tanks, scores of fighter jets and half a dozen ships.


HMS Ark Royal has been sunk! The Flagship of the Navy she was the fifth Royal Navy ship to bear the illustrious name of Queen Elizabeth the First’s flagship which led the defeat of the Spanish Armada.


But the RAF will bear the brunt of the planned cuts. The Air Force will lose 7,000 airmen – almost one sixth of its total staff – and 295 aircraft. The cuts will leave the Force with fewer than 200 fighter planes for the first time since 1914. In addition, the Navy will lose two submarines, three amphibious ships and more than 100 senior officers, along with 2,000 sailors and marines.


Your job is OK Son!

The Army faces a 40 per cent cut to its fleet of 9,700 armoured vehicles and the loss of a 5,000-strong brigade of troops. The defence review scaled back Britain’s Armed Forces over the next decade, leaving the UK with just one operational aircraft carrier, a smaller number of surface ships and a reduction of 42,000 MoD personnel. The dismantling of three existing Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft, which were close to completion at a cost of £4.1 billion, is one of the most embarrassing outcomes of the review.


£4.1 Billion of new Nimrod surveillance aircraft which have never flown being cut up and scrapped

One amazing feature of the Demolition Coalition so far is the compliant press coverage from the Murdoch and Tory Press. When you consider the acerbic and highly personalised disinformation campaign against Labour and its entire works before the May Election the docility of the right wing press in the face of swingeing Defence cuts is both incredible and hypocritical. Remember the highly personalised campaign against former PM Gordon Brown for not supporting “Our Boys.” Now we are told he supported them too much!



Labour’s “Cool Britannia” has been replaced by the LibCon’s “Cruel Britannia.” So the casual cruelty to the Armed Forces continues with career prospects being destroyed, RAF pilots who cost £4 M each to train being sacked with only short flying hours remaining before they get their wings, 100 long serving soldiers being sacked by email, Sea, Air, Rescue being privatised one week and the process abandoned the next and experienced pilots telling David Cameron to his face that he has destroyed their careers.



We have been here before under the Conservatives. Remember saved the cost of one Navy ship they withdrew from the Falkland Islands and it cost us an entire war! The Falklands War cost 255 men, six ships (ten others suffered varying degrees of battle damage), 34 aircraft and £2.778 billion. Another Conservative triumph of economic management! This current disembowelling of the armed forces is even more perverse because it is based on two big lies. One is that we need to replace Trident, the Cold War MAD (mutually assured destruction) system which will cost £34 Bn. And never be used. The other is the lie about the HUGE budget deficit. But the government’s budget projections do not take into account the selloff of the stakes in the banks rescued in the 2008 Credit Crunch at a cost of £37 Bn. For UK PLC’s stake in these banks. The perfidious nature of George Osborne’s projections means these are not included. So the country, including the armed forces is being wrecked to keep an Election Bribe to one side for 2015.


Big Society community based Defence Partnership

It is not just the Armed Forces which are not safe in the hands of the Tory / LibDem Coalition, the whole country is at risk. David Cameron is certainly standing behind "Our Boys and Girls" - in the queue at the Job Centre!

To see what serving members of the Armed Forces think of their treatment by the Government see;

www.roguegunner.com

Big Society, Small Military?

Being republican with both a big and a small R the Celtic Sage is hardly an admirer of British militarism or imperialism. How could I be given their history in Ireland and my belief that the people are sovereign – I believe in being a citizen, not a subject? There is still too much unfinished business out there from the days of Empire which indicates that “Perfidious” and “Albion” are still two words which go together. Witness the shameful dispossession of the inhabitants of Diego Garcia, the abandonment of their allies against the Japanese the brave Karen people of Burma, their ignoring of the oppression of the Tamils in Sri Lanka since independence and the shabby racist treatment of ex Ghurkha soldiers and their families. Then there were the squalid post-colonial misadventures in Kenya, Aden, Cyprus and Suez to name a few which suggest “Our Boys” as they are known in gender prejudice Tabloid Land have frequently been ill used by politicians. Then there was the Mother of all Illegal Wars, where Britain was not just unconscious of the present in Iraq but apparently also unaware of its shameful past in that country.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/britain-in-iraq.html


Nevertheless if you are not a pacifist you accept that Britain needs Armed Forces which must be properly resourced. You must also accept that there is a special compact to look after members of the Services who are prepared to die or be maimed to defend you and I - The Military Covenant. However I doesn’t recall either the Great Empire Defenders aka The Tories of the Lib Dems who form the Coalition of Opportunism which is grinding the UK back to the Stone Age tell the electors “Elect us and we’ll destroy the Army, Navy and RAF!” Nope, I never heard that before the election, did you?



No siree this was not the election platform but yet the UK’s Armed Forces are being ritually disembowelled on parade grounds around the world as we write. The Flagship of the Royal Navy Carrier Ark Royal and the entire Harrier Jet Force are being scrapped, £4 Bn of Nimrod Spy Planes (ordered by Conservative, Michael Portillo when they were in last time) will never fly and are being cut up. In the most significant changes to Britain’s defences since the post-Suez review of 1957, ministers and officials plan to scrap large parts of the Armed Forces. The Services will lose up to 16,000 personnel, hundreds of tanks, scores of fighter jets and half a dozen ships.


HMS Ark Royal has been sunk! The Flagship of the Navy she was the fifth Royal Navy ship to bear the illustrious name of Queen Elizabeth the First’s flagship which led the defeat of the Spanish Armada.


But the RAF will bear the brunt of the planned cuts. The Air Force will lose 7,000 airmen – almost one sixth of its total staff – and 295 aircraft. The cuts will leave the Force with fewer than 200 fighter planes for the first time since 1914. In addition, the Navy will lose two submarines, three amphibious ships and more than 100 senior officers, along with 2,000 sailors and marines.


Your job is OK Son!

The Army faces a 40 per cent cut to its fleet of 9,700 armoured vehicles and the loss of a 5,000-strong brigade of troops. The defence review scaled back Britain’s Armed Forces over the next decade, leaving the UK with just one operational aircraft carrier, a smaller number of surface ships and a reduction of 42,000 MoD personnel. The dismantling of three existing Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft, which were close to completion at a cost of £4.1 billion, is one of the most embarrassing outcomes of the review.


£4.1 Billion of new Nimrod surveillance aircraft which have never flown being cut up and scrapped

One amazing feature of the Demolition Coalition so far is the compliant press coverage from the Murdoch and Tory Press. When you consider the acerbic and highly personalised disinformation campaign against Labour and its entire works before the May Election the docility of the right wing press in the face of swingeing Defence cuts is both incredible and hypocritical. Remember the highly personalised campaign against former PM Gordon Brown for not supporting “Our Boys.” Now we are told he supported them too much!



Labour’s “Cool Britannia” has been replaced by the LibCon’s “Cruel Britannia.” So the casual cruelty to the Armed Forces continues with career prospects being destroyed, RAF pilots who cost £4 M each to train being sacked with only short flying hours remaining before they get their wings, 100 long serving soldiers being sacked by email, Sea, Air, Rescue being privatised one week and the process abandoned the next and experienced pilots telling David Cameron to his face that he has destroyed their careers.



We have been here before under the Conservatives. Remember saved the cost of one Navy ship they withdrew from the Falkland Islands and it cost us an entire war! The Falklands War cost 255 men, six ships (ten others suffered varying degrees of battle damage), 34 aircraft and £2.778 billion. Another Conservative triumph of economic management! This current disembowelling of the armed forces is even more perverse because it is based on two big lies. One is that we need to replace Trident, the Cold War MAD (mutually assured destruction) system which will cost £34 Bn. And never be used. The other is the lie about the HUGE budget deficit. But the government’s budget projections do not take into account the selloff of the stakes in the banks rescued in the 2008 Credit Crunch at a cost of £37 Bn. For UK PLC’s stake in these banks. The perfidious nature of George Osborne’s projections means these are not included. So the country, including the armed forces is being wrecked to keep an Election Bribe to one side for 2015.


Big Society community based Defence Partnership

It is not just the Armed Forces which are not safe in the hands of the Tory / LibDem Coalition, the whole country is at risk. David Cameron is certainly standing behind "Our Boys and Girls" - in the queue at the Job Centre!

To see what serving members of the Armed Forces think of their treatment by the Government see;

www.roguegunner.com

The Big Dumb Society

David Cameron’s Big Idea conquered up in something of a hurry before the last election is a somewhat nebulous concept called “The Big Society.” Now as far as can be told this is in line with the Tory led Coalitions attack on the State and those who depend on it. Whereas Margaret Thatcher infamously said there is no such thing as Society, her ideological love child David Cameron” has used his PR skills to rebadge this as “The Big Society.” New name, same difference. Under the guise of volunteerism and greater private sector involvement the attack on Society has begun with vigour. So the Armed Forces are being ritually disembowelled on parade grounds around the world. The Flagship of the Royal Navy Carrier Ark Royal and the entire Harrier Jet Force are being scrapped, £4 Bn of Nimrod Spy Planes (ordered by Conservative, Michael Portillo when they were in last time) will never fly and are being cut up. University fees have been tripled and the privatisation of Education has begun with wholesale approval of “Independent Schools.” As for the NHS which the ConDem Coalition said was safe its budget is being drastically cut in real terms whilst being subject to wholly unproven and untested changes which were never in ANY Election Manifesto.



And in a continuing attack on communities and learning, libraries which account for less than 5% of Local Authority budgets are being closed wholesale. Education Secretary Michael Gove attempted to say his ‘reforms’ in education would favour poorer working class families, but now watches working class kids have their local library closed without a squeak of protest. There is little more sickening than watching well heeled public school and Oxbridge graduates like Cameron and Clegg, who had endless access to books and computers, telling workers that it is necessary to close libraries, while bankers and businessmen give themselves tax free bonuses after precipitating the crisis we are in.




Marsh's Library Dublin - A public library since 1701

Protesters have held "read-ins" and storytelling sessions at dozens of libraries across the UK to campaign against planned branch closures. At one library in south London the event has turned into an all-night sit-in involving about 35 protesters. Authors Philip Pullman and Mark Haddon were among those who took part in events elsewhere. Some councils have said keeping libraries open would put services for vulnerable and elderly people at risk. More than 450 libraries and mobile services across the country are currently threatened with closure.



New Cross Library

At New Cross Library, in south-east London, protesters taking part in an earlier "read-in" resolved to occupy the library overnight. Three security guards have been brought in to stay in the library with the group. Protester James Holland, of Save New Cross Library, told the BBC people had brought meals for the protesters, who were "sitting around playing Monopoly and Connect 4 and doing plenty of reading." I think with this occupation we are going to take the libraries campaign - and the anti-cuts campaign in general - to a whole new level. We are just not going to put up with these cuts," he said.

Other events during Saturday included a rally outside Bolton's central library and a flashmob book reading at Cambridge Central Library. Musician Billy Bragg sang and delivered a speech in Dorset, where library users attempted to take out the maximum number of books to empty shelves.


New Cross Library Occupation

Comic writer Gervase Phinn sent a statement to Bawtry library in South Yorkshire, describing books as "the architecture of a civilised society". He added: "Reading is the very protein of growth in learning. We must preserve our libraries. Have they thought through the impact of their messianic message about literature on the most vulnerable in our society?”

His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman has been particularly vocal over proposals to close 20 of Oxfordshire County Council's 43 libraries. He said the impact would not be easily measured. He said: "It's a kind of inward loss, a darkening of things, a narrowing of horizons that will gradually make us a less informed, less intelligent, less aware, less useful, less imaginative, less kindly people than we might have been."


Great Smith Street Library - Closed as it was too good for the common people

We have seen libraries being easy targets before. I remember when I was first living in London going to the wonderful Library in Great Smith St. Westminster, just beside the Department for Education and nearest public library to Parliament. Part of a complex which included public baths designed to improve the lot of working people it was a “proper” library with a cavernous and comfortable reading room. The Conservative Council sold it off, replaced it with a pokey (and now little used) library shop in its own offices in Victoria and it is now The Cinnamon Club, an upmarket restaurant of the type beloved by MP’s and Bureaucrats spending somebody else’s money.






My second home when I was at school - Drumcondra Library, Dublin

In my home town of Dublin our oldest public library, Marsh’s, which opened in 1701 is still going strong including the “cages” where readers of rare books were locked in! After school I used to cycle down to Drumcondra Library where the world awaited and real human librarians could always point a young student in the right direction. Built by the City Council to a distinctive design I was delighted to see on a recent trip home it has been refurbished and modernised. Libraries are centres of adult learning, of computer access for those who can't afford their own, of vital services and support in areas of severe deprivation.

Isaac Asimov summed it up;

"My real education, the superstructure, the details, the true architecture, I got out of the public library. For an impoverished child whose family could not afford to buy books, the library was the open door to wonder and achievement, and I can never be sufficiently grateful that I had the wit to charge through that door and make the most of it. Now, when I read constantly about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that the door is closing and that society has found one more way to destroy itself."

How dare the ConDems suggest that they are creating a "Big Society?" It's a complete con for public services like libraries which are not there for “profit”but for quality. Libraries are at the very heart of communities - lifelines for so many people. Asimov would turn in his grave if he knew what was happening. There is a vast list of writers who have educated themselves through using public libraries. Libraries offer so much to people- the best things in life are free- and we should preserve our marvellous heritage. British public libraries are admired worldwide, indeed The Brirish library describes itself as "The World's Library." So, if it ain't broke, why fix it?

The Big Dumb Society

David Cameron’s Big Idea conquered up in something of a hurry before the last election is a somewhat nebulous concept called “The Big Society.” Now as far as can be told this is in line with the Tory led Coalitions attack on the State and those who depend on it. Whereas Margaret Thatcher infamously said there is no such thing as Society, her ideological love child David Cameron” has used his PR skills to rebadge this as “The Big Society.” New name, same difference. Under the guise of volunteerism and greater private sector involvement the attack on Society has begun with vigour. So the Armed Forces are being ritually disembowelled on parade grounds around the world. The Flagship of the Royal Navy Carrier Ark Royal and the entire Harrier Jet Force are being scrapped, £4 Bn of Nimrod Spy Planes (ordered by Conservative, Michael Portillo when they were in last time) will never fly and are being cut up. University fees have been tripled and the privatisation of Education has begun with wholesale approval of “Independent Schools.” As for the NHS which the ConDem Coalition said was safe its budget is being drastically cut in real terms whilst being subject to wholly unproven and untested changes which were never in ANY Election Manifesto.



And in a continuing attack on communities and learning, libraries which account for less than 5% of Local Authority budgets are being closed wholesale. Education Secretary Michael Gove attempted to say his ‘reforms’ in education would favour poorer working class families, but now watches working class kids have their local library closed without a squeak of protest. There is little more sickening than watching well heeled public school and Oxbridge graduates like Cameron and Clegg, who had endless access to books and computers, telling workers that it is necessary to close libraries, while bankers and businessmen give themselves tax free bonuses after precipitating the crisis we are in.




Marsh's Library Dublin - A public library since 1701

Protesters have held "read-ins" and storytelling sessions at dozens of libraries across the UK to campaign against planned branch closures. At one library in south London the event has turned into an all-night sit-in involving about 35 protesters. Authors Philip Pullman and Mark Haddon were among those who took part in events elsewhere. Some councils have said keeping libraries open would put services for vulnerable and elderly people at risk. More than 450 libraries and mobile services across the country are currently threatened with closure.



New Cross Library

At New Cross Library, in south-east London, protesters taking part in an earlier "read-in" resolved to occupy the library overnight. Three security guards have been brought in to stay in the library with the group. Protester James Holland, of Save New Cross Library, told the BBC people had brought meals for the protesters, who were "sitting around playing Monopoly and Connect 4 and doing plenty of reading." I think with this occupation we are going to take the libraries campaign - and the anti-cuts campaign in general - to a whole new level. We are just not going to put up with these cuts," he said.

Other events during Saturday included a rally outside Bolton's central library and a flashmob book reading at Cambridge Central Library. Musician Billy Bragg sang and delivered a speech in Dorset, where library users attempted to take out the maximum number of books to empty shelves.


New Cross Library Occupation

Comic writer Gervase Phinn sent a statement to Bawtry library in South Yorkshire, describing books as "the architecture of a civilised society". He added: "Reading is the very protein of growth in learning. We must preserve our libraries. Have they thought through the impact of their messianic message about literature on the most vulnerable in our society?”

His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman has been particularly vocal over proposals to close 20 of Oxfordshire County Council's 43 libraries. He said the impact would not be easily measured. He said: "It's a kind of inward loss, a darkening of things, a narrowing of horizons that will gradually make us a less informed, less intelligent, less aware, less useful, less imaginative, less kindly people than we might have been."


Great Smith Street Library - Closed as it was too good for the common people

We have seen libraries being easy targets before. I remember when I was first living in London going to the wonderful Library in Great Smith St. Westminster, just beside the Department for Education and nearest public library to Parliament. Part of a complex which included public baths designed to improve the lot of working people it was a “proper” library with a cavernous and comfortable reading room. The Conservative Council sold it off, replaced it with a pokey (and now little used) library shop in its own offices in Victoria and it is now The Cinnamon Club, an upmarket restaurant of the type beloved by MP’s and Bureaucrats spending somebody else’s money.






My second home when I was at school - Drumcondra Library, Dublin

In my home town of Dublin our oldest public library, Marsh’s, which opened in 1701 is still going strong including the “cages” where readers of rare books were locked in! After school I used to cycle down to Drumcondra Library where the world awaited and real human librarians could always point a young student in the right direction. Built by the City Council to a distinctive design I was delighted to see on a recent trip home it has been refurbished and modernised. Libraries are centres of adult learning, of computer access for those who can't afford their own, of vital services and support in areas of severe deprivation.

Isaac Asimov summed it up;

"My real education, the superstructure, the details, the true architecture, I got out of the public library. For an impoverished child whose family could not afford to buy books, the library was the open door to wonder and achievement, and I can never be sufficiently grateful that I had the wit to charge through that door and make the most of it. Now, when I read constantly about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that the door is closing and that society has found one more way to destroy itself."

How dare the ConDems suggest that they are creating a "Big Society?" It's a complete con for public services like libraries which are not there for “profit”but for quality. Libraries are at the very heart of communities - lifelines for so many people. Asimov would turn in his grave if he knew what was happening. There is a vast list of writers who have educated themselves through using public libraries. Libraries offer so much to people- the best things in life are free- and we should preserve our marvellous heritage. British public libraries are admired worldwide, indeed The Brirish library describes itself as "The World's Library." So, if it ain't broke, why fix it?