I enjoyed the Glasgow East By-election

For someone who believes in the United Kingdom and therefore is a unionist (without any party affiliation), the fact that I enjoyed an SNP victory would indicate a masochistic streak. Actually if I had been an elector in Glasgow East, I would have probably cast my vote for the SNP as they were the only party likely to give the Governemt the 'shock' it needed!

I stayed up to watch the result and when after a recount the SNP won, I did go to bed with a wry grin on my face.

It appears every analyst, political commentator and 'man in the pub' has a view on why the SNP Won. so I don't see why I shoudn't add my 'two pennyworth':

• This was the 'Mother' of all protest votes. Traditionally a Labour Stronghold, people had just had enough and wanted to give the Government a 'good kicking' and remind them that East Glasgow has problems that need to be tackled and despite some progress, not significant when spread over the 11 years of Labour Government
• The SNP ran an excellent Campaign (admittedly by bringing in activists from outside), whilst the Labour Party didn't. Labour was permanently on the back foot.
• Whilst the Conservatives were an extremely poor third, they did win some respect for bringing David Cameron to the constituency. As for the Lib Dems well perhaps they viewed this one as a lost cause and didn't try too hard.

What will happen next?

• Received wisdom is that come the next General Election Labour will win the seat back. Actually I think that whilst this is probable, a lot will depend on the new SNP MP John Mason. If he can hold his Nationalist rhetoric in check and put all his engeries in to being a constituency MP he may win sufficient hearts and minds to scrape in.
• Will this topple Grodon Brown. No! Tony Blair handed Gordon a chalice in which there was a quite a lot of of hemlock. Due to a myriad of factors this has turned into a cocktail of poisons, so much in fact that the Chalice is overflowing. However much Labour MPs plot and plan (which it appears is about all they do when at Westminster), and however much Gordon Brown's personal ratings fall, he is the only Labour Politician capable of being Prime Minister, which is a sad reflection as much on British Politics in general as the Labour Party in particular.
• Will there be an early General Election? I suspect this would be one of David Cameron's nightmares, as if one was called soon he might win. This would mean he would inherit some extremely serious problems that would require making very unpopular decisions. Gordon Brown believes he can weather the current problems and still have enough time to insert enough 'feel good' factors before he has to call an election. The problem for Gordon and Labour is even if they do 'turn things round' David still might win.
• Staying with the Conservatives, whilst the campaign in Glasgow East didn't produce anything of significance in the ballot box, it did win some respect. Maybe this is the time to start a Hearts and Minds push into Scottish constituencies. It took a generation for the Conservative vote in Scotland to collapse, now is the time to start the slow process of winning it back,
• The Lib Dems. I was disappointed in the campaign they ran and prior to the start of the hustings I assumed they would make third with a slight increase in votes. They didn't and I think they should be very concerned about this
  

Winner and Main Loser:

John Mason:
Whilst I am virulently against his Scottish Nationalist agenda, I am beginning to respect the man. Firstly because he has had a real world career outside of politics. He has not played up, or down the fact he is a practising Christian and a Protestant to boot. Whilst I do not agree with many of his views on matters outside the Nationalist Agenda, I do respect that these are sincerely held and that so far he has shown himself to be a man of integrity.I really hope he puts his energies into serving the people of Glasgow East, because what they really need is a constituency MP who will work tirelessly for them, not someone who see them as a stepping stone to furthering their political Career.

Margaret Curran - Labour Candidate:
Whilst she has done Community Work, Margaret Curran is a Career Politician. Enough said!


The Cheshire Cat:
As those of you you follow this blog (and there are a few, a very few), will know I am not only against his Nationalist Agenda, but I dislike Alex Salmond the man.
As the Campaign for Glasgow East built up, the Smug expression, Alex often displays on Camera became more and more pronounced, until it reached the point where like the Cheshire Cats smile, only the Smug Expression remained. Unfortunately the man behind the expression will re-materialise.

Eutelsat drops NTDTV - Technical Problem provides Excuse for a Political Act

On the the Night of the 16/17 June 2008 Eutelsat Satellite W5 suffered a serious technical problem with the power generation sub-system. This required that 4 out of the 24 of the Satellites Transponders were switched off. Obviously the decision to select which transponders were to be taken off line had to be made very quickly and I assumed this used contingency procedures which for the commercial elements were based on Service Level Agreements (SLA) which form part of Contractual Obligations. If these did not provide an answer, then an Operational Manager should have had the authority to make the immediate decision, which could be changed once the situation was fully assessed.

One of the tranpsonders switched off was that supplying the feed for NTDTV (New Tang Dynasty Television) and therefore immediately terminating its broadcasts to China!

This decision was not it appears based an SLA, or an Operations Managers Decision, but was taken by the CEO of Eutelsat and is alleged not to have been based on any Technical, or Contractual requirements, but was a Politically Motivated Decision.

According to RSF (Reporters Without Borders - Reporters Sans Frontieres) the decision to select NTDTV for terminating broadcasts was made by Giuliano Berretta Chairman and CEO of Eutelsat to curry favour with the PRC regime, which has steadfastly sought to shut out all media beyond its censorship control.

The Following is Sourced from RSF and Space Daily
Quote:

According to RSF, a Eutelsat representative in Beijing stated in a recorded conversation:

"It was our company's CEO in France who decided to stop NTDTV's signal.
(...)We could have turned off any of the transponders. (...) It was because we got repeated complaints and reminder from the Chinese government. (...) Two years ago, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television kept saying the same thing over and over: 'Stop that TV station before we begin to talk."

Since the inception of its broadcast on W5 in 2004, NTDTV has become indispensable to a vast number of Chinese viewers. For matters that concern Chinese people's lives, for what actually happened around them and in the outside world, NTDTV has always been among the first to report the events.

Its timely coverage on current events were vital to the Chinese people, such as reporting on the SARS epidemic three weeks before Beijing owned up to the
problem.

It also focused in on government abuses shielded from the Chinese public view, such as the disproportionate number of school children deaths due to the collapse of shoddily constructed school buildings in the Sichuan earthquake, and the truth about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

With the Beijing Olympics mere weeks away, Chinese people's need for uncensored news has never been greater.

Yet at this critical juncture, Mr. Berretta's decision closed the only window of free information to millions of Chinese people. What the PRC regime has not been able to accomplish for years, Mr. Berretta has delivered by the flip of a switch.

In 2005, when Mr. Berretta attempted to cut off NTDTV's broadcast into China,
Wall Street Journal revealed that he sought to use NTDTV as a pawn to establish
a business relationship with the PRC regime.

International outcry and an outpouring of support for information freedom helped reverse that decision. Today Mr. Berretta is again exposed for repeating his attempt with a more subtle excuse.

The European Union's charter that created Eutelsat required the practice of
non-discrimination, equal access, and respect for media pluralism. Eutelsat's
own corporate description states: "For millions of homes, the Group's satellites
are synonymous with openness and exchange." Mr. Berretta's action has put its
international and European commitments in jeopardy.

A regime that fears the freedom of speech is a weak regime. Any corporation
seeking favour from such a regime is sacrificing long-term benefits for short-term gains.

Unquote
So what gains does Giuliano Berretta expect to get from the success of his second attempt to stop NTDTV broadcasting to its audience in China?

Well: Eutelsat and Thales, the French company that made the satellite, are doing more and more business in China. It was Thales that manufactured Zhongxing-9, the satellite that was put in orbit last month to guarantee good coverage of the Olympic Games. Eutelsat has signed a contract with China to use its Long March rocket to launch Eutelsat satellites.

The Wall Street Journal wrote in April: “Eutelsat for years has been trying to find a way to penetrate the Chinese market, and launch contracts are widely seen as one way to help reach that goal.”

Although obliged to respect the principles of equality of access, pluralism and non-discrimination enshrined in article 3 of a convention governing the operations of satellite companies, Eutelsat appears decided it can ignore the convention and operate as censor all in the name of kowtowing to the PRC for commercial gain!

Eutelsat-IGO (currently with a membership of 47 States) and the European Commission (which could for once do something useful) need to be investigating Mr Berretta's handling of this situation!

In the meantime there needs to be a repeat of the international outcry that reversed Mr Berretta's first attempt to censor NTDTV.

As for W5, although the failure occurred in mid-June, the Technical Investigation and attempts to regain full operation of the W5 Satellite have only just been completed. The conclusion us that there is no hope of returning it to full service and that only 20 Transponders will be available for the rest of the satellites life.

Lisbon Treaty - Time to Give HMG a Wake-up Call vote UKIP

The Lisbon Treaty - What is it all about:
Well the Treaty we are told is designed to 'streamline' the functioning of the EU -
Well read it for yourself here (only 479 Pages) Consolidated treaties As a cure for insomnia excellent, but perhaps reading the Wikipedia Entry will be less of a chore.

No then here is a very brief summary:
Quote:
Prominent changes introduced with the Treaty of Lisbon include:

• Reduced chances of stalemate in the EU Council through more qualified majority voting
• A more significant European Parliament through extended co-decision with the EU Council
• Reduction of the number of Commissioners from 27 to 18,
• Scrapping of the pillar system
• Creation of a President of the European Council
• Creation of a High Representative for Foreign Affairs for greater coherence and continuity in EU policies.
• make the Charter of Fundamental Rights (human rights provisions) legally binding.

Unquote

Now your all finally clear on what this treaty means for us the individual, let us move on:
Now that Eire has rejected the Treaty, it should be dead, but Gordon Brown it appears is determined to continue ratifying the Lisbon Treaty. He has even got it through the Lords, despite some reasoned arguments for delaying ratification (OK there were some less reasoned arguments as well).
Sorry Prime Minister you cannot ratify something that has been demoncratically rejected by the voters in an EU State!

I watched, initially with some interest David Cameron and Gordon Brown having a face-off on the Lisbon Treaty at Prime Ministers Questions and my mind wandered off the rhetoric and began to think of ways British Electors could voice concerns over the Governments policy are regards the Lisbon Treaty in particular, but the more general policy of its willingness to handover sovereign powers to the European Commission. In fact some aspects of this have a certain irony as this Government has 'talked big' about devolving power to the regions, whilst handing power to the European Commission, an organisation which is increasingly viewed as both undemocratic and untrustworthy.

I had better state I am not actually anti-European as I believe that many of the pan-European institutions, especially those dealing with Technical Matters and Standards and plus cross EU co-operation on many important matters such as Policing and Security have been and continue to bring positive benefits. The less politicians are involved the more efficient and effective these institutions seem to function as they are staffed by those with the Technical Knowledge and Practical Experience required. Although Political oversight is necessary these work best when Politicians don't get involved day to day and the issues being dealt with are technical, or cross-border procedural.

I do believe it is better for the United Kingdom to be part of the EU, than not. What I am increasingly concerned about is the growth of the European Commission as a Sovereign Entity can ignore the wishes of the electorate of Member States and can still workaround the wishes of the European Parliament.

So I want the powers of the European Commission be reduced rather than extended and it should only be able to introduce any legislation after it has passed acceptance by both the European Parliament and then the agreement of all Ministers of Member states.

So what can the concerned British voter do. Well unless a bye-election called in your constituency, in which case register a protest vote against the Government (even if traditionally you were a Labour Voter), but for most of us it is a case of wait patiently until June next year and then do something that in the past too many have avoided doing - Vote in the European Elections. Then regardless of party affiliation, or loyalty vote UKIP.

Enjoy the wave of shock horror that will then pass through the Westminster Village, but also discover that the European Parliament can have meaningful debates on matters that affect us!

Safety Test Failed, Not if we change the Paperwork

The Armed Forces Minister and Head of the Royal Navy publicly apologised on the 12th June for grievous "systemic failings" that led to two Royal Navy Crew being killed by an underwater explosion whilst working on Oxygen Units aboard HMS Tireless which was on exercise off Alaska last year.

This apology followed as the result of the publication of the report from the Board of Enquiry which detailed failures in:

• acquisition
• manufacture
• transport
• storage
• stowage and logistics management

Which covers just about everything. Except the report didn't stop there as it concluded the MoD had a:

• Lack of Understanding
• Lack of Quality Control

So in Summary the Ministry of Defence was incompetent.

But it does get worse:
The inquiry discovered some of the units were left in the open at the dockside for up to two weeks before being installed in the submarines, and that other oxygen generators which had failed manufacturers' safety checks may have also been put into service.

In the ministers statement, he included the following:
Quote
"I am extremely sorry, particularly to the families of those who lost their lives or were injured." The board of inquiry found that 996 "self-contained oxygen generators" used in Royal Navy subs had been found to be faulty and subsequently brought back into service. The paperwork relating to them had been altered"
Unquote

Ah now we move from incompetence and negligence and into a whole new ball game called : Criminal Mismanagement and Falsification of Records (in this case Safety Related).

One assumes Criminal Proceedings with be brought against any Civilians involved and Court Martial for those serving in the Armed Forces.
Sorry I am was being naive for a moment, no the reality will probably be the culture within the MoD will not change, the guilty will go unpunished and the MoD with its part-time political Master will continue on their merry way, apologising when its failures kill service personnel, because apologising doesn't cost money, whereas doing what is required does!

Eire Votes No to the Lisbon Treaty

The Lisbon Treaty forms a replacement for the EU Constitution, which was rejected due to Referendums in France and Holland resulting in a majority for rejection.

The Lisbon Treaty has been described as the 'Stealth Version' of the EU Constitution. The Government in the UK 'weaselled' its way out of a British Referendum (as it was only promised for the Constitution not its replacement) and other EU Governments have also avoided putting the Treaty to their voters, it was left to the Irish, whose Government had no choice under the Eire Constitution but to hold a Referendum, to effectively give voice to the grave concerns of, I suspect a majority of voters in the main EU Countries.

The Eire Referendum result should, under EU Rules mean the Lisbon Treaty is dead. But not only are EU Officials working hard to keep it alive (and having already, prior to acceptance started the implementation process), but the majority of Member Governments seem desperate to ensure ratification of the treaty goes ahead.

Only the Czech President it appears understands the EU Rules and has publicly stated that 'The treaty was finished, since any further ratification was impossible'.

I am extremely concerned that having 'ducked and dived' their way out of a UK Referendum British Ministers seem determined to continue ratification of a treaty which cannot actually be implemented under EU Rules. I find the HM Government stance on this totally unacceptable.

This Government avoided a Referendum because they feared they would not only lose, but lose heavily and yet at every opportunity they praise British Democracy and 'snipe' at other countries lack of democratic government. Bunch of hypocrites.

Bournemouth Aviation Museum Closure

Update 28th October 2008
See Post Bournemouth Aviation Museum Reopens

Original Article
I maintain a list of United Kingdom Aviation Museums I want to visit and so far haven't. This has become almost masochistic as there is now an even longer list of UK Aviation Museum I wanted to visit, never did and cannot now because they closed. Admittedly most of these were small andwere probably unsustainable as organisations, but over the years a number have been major collections, and each closure resulted in a pang of regret.

The closure of the Bournemouth Aviation Museum and the organisations ongoing attempts to retrieve the situation has made me annoyed. In part because Bournemouth Airport has a very important place in British Aviation History, because the collection whilst not huge contains some important exhibits and finally because this situation, despite a lot of effort reached the point where the Museum Closed and is now 'homeless'.

Now Bournemouth Airport is currently owned by Manchester Airport Group which is owned by a group of Councils in and around Greater Manchester. Manchester Airport maintains a the 'Viewing Park' which includes a Concorde and restored Trident 3B, plus a forward section of a DC10, so they cannot be entirely Aviation Heritage unfriendly.

So what happened at Bournemouth. Well firstly the Museum did only have a short lease, which the Airport decided they could not renew because of development plans affecting the Museum Building and surrounding land. Whilst the development in this area, is apparently provide a new Car Park, it is part of the Airports Master Plan and whilst I am sure being replaced by a Car Park really irks the Museum Team, this should not be an issue. The Airport and Museum principals held many meetings once the non-renewal of the lease was advised in an attempt to find alternatives within the Airport Perimeter. But all to no avail.

The Museum had to go and by a set date and that is that. Well this is when I do get a trifle annoyed. I accept the Airports Commercial Interests come first and that they have provided the Museum with 'Some wriggle room', but if they really wanted the Museum on their land would have been looking at how they could have included it in the master plan and consultations should have been ongoing when the lease was signed.

Secondly although MAG trumpets their Community friendly credentials at no stage have they appeared to have considered how they could mitigate the Museums Problems in relocation, After all the Museum is a registered Charity with a high dependency on volunteers, plus it has exhibits important to UK Aviation Heritage and in some cases very significant to Bournemouth Airports past, plus it was an educational resource, all of which should give high ranking in the MAG Bournemouth Community Projects Fund. Whilst other Airport Tenants have assisted, or at least tried very hard to assist the Museum in the lead up to the final eviction date, the MAG Management at Bournemouth other than offering the aforesaid 'wriggle room' have provided no practical help. (If I am wrong I will unreservedly apologise).

Whilst it is obvious the new Museum Trustees are making progress in finding a new home, and have at least local Political support for their efforts, they are inevitably going to lose most if not all of the revenue from this summer. Volunteers and equipment loans can cover a lot of financial holes, but funding and survival are irretrievably linked and maybe this is where MAG should help. After all they are part of the continuing story of Bournemouth Airport and therefore this is their heritage too!

Well time will tell, but unfortunately I am not optimistic that MAG will assist financially and although I believe the Museum will survive it will take a long time to recover, plus there will now always be a feeling of resentment between the Museum and MAG, which will fester for many years. MAG is certainly well within its legal rights. The Museum did make an assumption that the lease would be renewed. But was there consultation between tenants and the Airport over how the Master plan would affect them, if so it is apparent the current Museum Trustees were not party to any consultation.

Heritage can be good for Business and Business can be good for Heritage, but far too often in this country the two collide because neither thinks ahead.

Losing the Bournemouth Aviation Museum completely would almost certainly bolster other collections as exhibits would transfer across, but inevitably some would be lost. The real loss would be the link with Bournemouth's Aviation past and once its gone, it can never be brought back.

Data Center Outage and the Contingency Plan Cannot be Implemented!

In the late afternoon of the 31st May (16:55 CDT) The Planet's H1 Data Center in Houston Texas went off line due a power failure.
Not I hasten to add any old power failure, as the The Planet System and Network Status Forum explained:
Quote:
This evening at 4:55pm CDT in our H1 data center, electrical gear shorted, creating an explosion and fire that knocked down three walls surrounding our electrical equipment room. Thankfully, no one was injured. In addition, no customer servers were damaged or lost.
Unquote:
For any company the above would be a challenge to both Contingency and Business Continuity handling, but 'The Planet' is not just any business and Data Centre H1 is not just any Data Center. 'The Planet' is a major Web Hosting Company and Data Center H1 was 'inherited' when it merged with Everyones Internet (EV1) which was formerly RackShack. and was the original RackShack Data Center, which means its server farms include many legacy systems.

So this situation was not just an internal problem for 'The Planet' but a very serious Business Continuity Problem for the 7,500 Customers with a total of 9000 Servers depending on this Data Centre..

Could things get any worse? - Oh Yes it can!
The Building is evacuated, the Fire Department are in charge and even with the fire out they will not allow implementation of the Back-up Power Plan for safety reasons and finally they won't let staff back into the Building.

The company did what it could in the first few Hours after the explosion:

• It started to alert Internal, Contractor and Supplier teams and began moving them to site
• It start to alert Customers via Forum and Automated Voice Service and through one Customer Portal (the other was hosted in the affected center and was down).

Because of the confused situation and without being allowed into the building to assess damage, the first meaningful information could not be posted until 4 Hours after the incident.

From then on the company posted updates either to a 1 hour base schedule, or more often whenever there was 'breaking news,.even if the news was bad!
For many updates there was little to report, but the temptation to make rash promises was resisted.

This policy of NOT raising Customer expectations too high was proved the correct course when it was discovered the damage to power cabling was even greater than suspected. By lateral thinking, plus the use of additional generators and 'blood, sweat and tears' step by step recovery moved forward.

You can look at Bulletins to Customers - Current to Oldest here:
The Planet H1 Maintenance Updates
or in Oldest to Current here :
The Planet System & Network Forum

Whilst 56 Hours later recovery was not fully complete the CEO felt able to issue this audio statement: Doug Erwin, chairman and CEO of The Planet

Fifty Six hours without service is for a company dependent on internet sales a disaster and a lot of customers are obviously angry and concerned, worried sick about their business, but 56 Hours is a lot better than some original estimates of 5 Days.

Whilst The Planet is going to have to deal with the aftermath of this incident in terms of Customer claims and possibly litigation, I believe that Operationally and from a Customer Advisory Viewpoint the Company did everything it should and could.

It is rightly proud of the 24 Hour a day efforts from its staff many brought in from Dallas and the speed and effectiveness of Contractor and Supplier teams also working 24 Hours a day.

Whilst Operationally I admire the company's management of the incident, I am concerned that there maybe some questions over Contingency Planning and Risk Management including Safety Inspection Policies.

Whilst Web Site and Server Hosting is lucrative it is also extremely competitive and therefore the possibility of mass migration of Customers to a fall back site, or dispersing them across other data centres was never part of the equation for handling this incident and I suspect would not be an economic proposition (although offering it as a premium option could possibly make sense).

However I do think that during the 'lessons learned studies' some consideration is given to looking at how all the 'single point of failure' situations (not just electrical) can be mitigated, not only in H1 but across other Company Data Centers .

I also hope that the legal eagles allow The Planet to share the results of the investigations and studies industry wide as this is NOT about a marketing war, it is about safety and customer confidence that its Web Site, which for many is the core of the business is well protected.

Initially some 'The Planet' customers may feel moving to another host is the answer, but would they be able to handle a similar problem any better than 'The Planet' and would they the Customer be willing to pay the premium required for mirroring across Data Centers to provide guaranteed fallback! In most cases probably not

Throughout the industry worldwide today, there is almost certainly the feeling that 'thank God it wasn't us' and then the depressing thought: 'this time'.
There is probably one group of people seeing a 'silver lining; in all this: Insurers, who I suspect are already drafting new improved Business Continuity Insurance for Internet Dependent SME Businesses.

The Idle Man.
.

Mobile Phone - How many Features if any, do you need?

The release of the Hop1800 'voice only, no screen' Mobile from Hop-On has made me think, what features of my Mobile do I use and I came up with a short list?

• Address Book for Voice/Text/Email and as a quick look-up for Landline, Fax Numbers and Email Addresses.
  
• Voice Calls
• Hands Free
  
• Text Messages (Many more in, mainly from Services such as Voicemail)
  
• Email (Mainly out - Passing Notes about me being delayed enroute)
  
• Camera (once in a blue moon).
• Internet (once in a blue moon).

One feature I sometimes think I might use one day is a data service connection for my Laptop, but the requirement has never arisen. So in theory I am using a reasonable number of features, but what if they weren't there?

• No Address Book - Back to good old Filofax :-)
• No Hands Free - Even Safer Driving as I wouldn't have the Phone Switched on.
  
• No Text Messaging - Have to check Voicemail after meetings, etc, otherwise inconvenient, but I think l I could learn to live without it very quickly.
• No Email - Not really a problem, if it wasn't there!
  
• Camera - If didn't have it, it wouldn't be missed.
• Internet - If didn't have it, it wouldn't be missed.

Now I accept that some of the above might be more of a problem if I didn't have a laptop, but for me the core requirements are:

1. Voice Calls.
2. Voicemail.

So what would happen if I stopped having a mobile?
As I have always treated Mobile Phones as a communication tool, not a necessary part of my lifestyle, I suspect that for a week I would be extremely irritated it was no longer available, but I also suspect those people used to calling me on the Mobile would be annoyed. In the longer term I would probably find that people would consider it very odd I didn't have one (in the 1990's I spent five years without a Television, something that was always treated with utter amazement and disbelieve).

To end, a couple of idle thoughts:
So how would others cope without a Mobile?
What would be the consequences of every mobile network going off-air for 24 hours?

Finally who is going to buy a very basic mobile like the HOP 1800 in Western Europe and North America?
OK other than Criminals, Terrorists and those who just want an emergency phone.
Actually the above probably means there is sufficient market for this type of device!

Nimrod exposes contempt for Armed Forces

Not my Headline (I wish it was), but from a Daily Telegraph Article by Con Coughlin.
Not only is it an interesting Article in its own right, but the comments from readers struck me as both pertinent and interesting. To give you a sample the following is that last paragraph of Con Couglin's Article:
Quote:
Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, seemingly so underemployed at the Ministry of Defence that he also finds time to be Scottish Secretary, has admitted that two thirds of the Nimrods are “not fit for purpose”, but has done little to rectify the situation. He should hang his head in shame.
Unquote
In another time perhaps the last sentence would have read: He should Hang.

Now one of the Comments from a reader - It is long, but worth reading:
Quote:
The MOD have always possessed an accountant driven mentality instead of an operational requirement ethos towards military kit.

I was in the services when the Nimrod started to replace the Shackleton, back in the late 60’s, and the general consensus then, was that it was an extensively modified cobbled up Comet, with Spey engines. That it is still in service today as further modified variants are wheeled out, is a remarkable achievement in cost cutting, but not much else.

After the MR2 exploded over Kandahar, with the cause known to be related to in flight refuelling operations, remarkably a second incident took place on 5th November 2007 to a second MR2, (XV235), also over Afghanistan, while the investigation into the loss of XV230 was ongoing. This incident also occurred during in-flight refuelling when the crew called a Mayday after observing leaking fuel. They managed to land the aircraft. It was only after the second incident, that in flight refuelling was suspended for this type, and it was only due to providence that a second aircraft was not lost.

The board of Inquiry into XV235 deduced that the most probable cause, was escaped fuel contacting an air pipe at 400 degrees Celcius, after penetrating between two layers of insulation. Contributory factors were listed as:Age of the aircraft; Maintenance policy; Failure of hazard analysis and lack of a fire detection and suppression system; and, not identifying the full implications of successive changes to the fuel system and associated procedures.

Back in 1992 a program for replacement for the MR2 was started, the Nimrod MRA4
(New engines in refurbished airframes) was selected in 1996. This was delayed because the airframes supplied to BAe systems were non standard. ‘In service’ date had slipped from 2003 to 2009, and by 2005 the cost jumped from £2.8 billion to £3.5 billion, meaning the RAF would get fewer planes.

Sadly, the Nimrod is not alone in the tragedy of errors

The Hercules shot down over Baghdad was operating without self sealing fuel tanks in a war zone. Another cost saving?

link

I think the British owe their aircrews better than this.

The MOD and successive governments, have treated the military as nothing more than a cost cutting exercises for decades. This government in particular goes down in history with a part-time defence secretary, to emphasize the low priority which Labour assigns to the military. With soldiers still being sent out in ‘snatch’ Land Rovers, it is little wonder that the RAF is flying antique junk.

Posted as a comment to the Telegraph Article by Michael Barningham on May 23, 2008 10:13 PM
Unquote

Delaying the Nimrod Replacement - Tragic and Symbolic

A replacement for, or at least a complete ground up rebuild of the RAF Nimrod Fleet has been on the agenda for so long that I think it dates back to the late 1990's. But HMG have always tried to move it to the 'back burner', whilst at the same time trying to find means of justifying the delay as both reasonable, prudent and as an after thought operationally acceptable.

Back in 2004 they were looking for another delay and decided to spend some money on commissioning a report from BAE to confirm sorry that should be see, if it was safe to delay replacement, despite the subsequent report warning that: There had been 880 fires or "smoke-related incidents" on Nimrods in the past 22 years and that hot air pipes in the bomb bay were too close to the key elements of the fuel system. If a fire broke out in the bomb bay, there was no way of extinguishing it.

The report urged the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to fit a fire suppression system in the bomb bay, but the warning was ignored.

A further report, this time by QinetiQ in 2006:
Blamed the Nimrod’s age and the "intense" way in which the aircraft were flown for what it described as a "critical" structural problem. The warning was ignored was again ignored.

Failure to proceed with the replacement programme in 2004 following the BAE Report was unacceptable, failure to act following the QinentiQ Report is criminally culpable.

But despite the clarity of the warnings the Government continued with its policy of delaying the programme until 2010.

Meanwhile the Nimrod Fleet which was only 21 Aircraft with only around 11 serviceable at any given time was being tasked at War Levels of operations. Like the rest of the British Armed Services, Nimrod and her crews were being stretched at a level of Operations the Government required, but the same Government was not willing to correctly finance.

A Nimrod Crash in November 2004 was caused by the same faults identified in two separate reports that were ignored. The Death of the 14 Crew of Nimrod XV230 in September 2007 was as a direct result of those reports being ignored as it was caused by the faults identified in these reports. Criminal Negligence on the part of the MOD, RAF and Government?

Today and every day Nimrod Crews take an Aircraft based on the Comet Airliner of the 1950's and which was actually built in the 1960's on missions over land that is a War Zone, or over the unforgiving Sea.

The very fact they continue to do this makes them heroes and brings shame on those Politicians who didn't do what was absolutely necessary in 2004 and absolutely vital in 2006, but still sit in Government.
The MOD and at least some Senior RAF Officer are also culpable and I suggest in certain cases Criminal Trial and Court Marshals maybe appropriate.

The Crash of Nimrod XV230 is both tragic and Symbolic of this Governments entire attitude to the Armed Services (and indeed the Emergency Services) . In that they will perform miracles on the minimum, whilst we spend money on what will keep us in power.

Unfortunately whilst this Government has been spectacularly inept in keeping its attitude to Defence concealed, history consistently teaches us when HMG commits the Armed Forces to fight it always states these forces are correctly equipped and all their requirements have been and will continue to be fully met.
Just as consistently our Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen have paid for these lies with their lives.

At least in previous times we could have expected those responsible to at the very least resign, not just from their post, but from public life. Now they not only keep their job, or get another, but rarely even apologise!

Police Pay - Two Nations and Jan Berry

For most of the UK's Police Services the Government in Westminster refused to implement the Police Arbitration Tribunal's 2.5% Pay Award back-dated to September 2007 in full, but to stage it, so as to save 30 Million Pounds (but the Government had no problem finding 2.7 Billion Pounds in a failed attempt to save a by-election). In Scotland however the Tribunal' recommendation was accepted and Officers will receive the full amount back-dated to September - So much for One Nation!

Now I have never been a Police Officer but I found this refusal to accept the Arbitration Boards Decision, especially when the Teachers Arbitration Board Recommendations had been fully accepted a disgrace. But when the situation results in a two nations Police Pay Standard I find the situation totally unacceptable.

Whilst I am only a Grumpy and who cares what I think, Jan Berry the outgoing Chair of the Police Federation in England and Wales, does at least have to be listened to!

Having seen excerpts from her Keynote speech to the Police Federation of England and Wales Conference, I was so impressed I decided to check out the full text which can be found here:
Jan Berry's Keynote Speech In PDF Format.

I am not a Trade Unionist by nature (I still carry very bad memories of my virtually enforced membership of the TGWU in the 1970's and the rantings of Paid Officials, Conveners and Shop Stewards in 1980's).

But Jan Berry has impressed me so much that once she has had time to recharge her batteries after six years as Federation Chair, I hope she considers a Career either in Politics as a back bench MP. or in the Media on a flagship Programme such as BBC Newsnight. In either role she would truly be performing a Public Service to the Nation, of in an erudite and compelling way exposing the crass behaviour of Government Ministers.

Nick Robinson's News Blog had an item on the Federation Conference entitled:
Police beat up defenceless woman
Unfortunately he did not include the phrase 'and She Throughly Deserved It', so I will!

MPs Panic - Over Saving the Country, err No Saving their Jobs

On Television an evening or two before the by-election at Crewe and Nantwich, a respected politician on a Panel stated that people didn't go into Politics for the money, but Public Service. The other Politicians on the Panel nodded sagely in agreement and I suppressed a wry smile and switched over to a factual programme.

Fast forward until the Morning after the by-election and the headlines many of which followed the theme of:
Labour MPs Panic. Why was the Country being plunged into chaos, was an invasion force heading into the beaches, had the commons bar run dry, or was it because their expenses were going to be exposed to public scrutiny?

No as based on the Result, if a General Election was called in a month or two, many of them would lose their Jobs (many in seats previously considered safe). This would not only mean loss of a reasonable salary (which they effectively set themselves - which I am sure the Police Find Ironic), but all those allowances.

So instead of rallying around the Government as members of a party should, they started not only to panic about their futures, but began to indulge in the only thing they do well back-stabbing!

Public Service, no Self-serving!

It is an old saw that a Country gets the Politicians it deserves, on this basis we must have done something really bad.

The Murder of Captain Nairac - Two Suspects still Safe in the USA

With the arrest of and subsequent court appearance of Kevin Crilly the Torture and subsequent Murder of Captain Robert Nairac is back in the news

Although Kevin Crilly has been released on bail (which I find strange even by the standard of NI judiciary favouring former members of the IRA, due the Peace Accords), the question is which haven for Terrorists has been sheltering Mr Crilly since 1977 – Libya which had links with the IRA by shipping them Arms, Marxist Rebels in Columbia, who used IRA Men as Instructors, or some other shadowy group, or regime?

Well none of the above, as like many terrorists of his ilk he found sanctuary in the United States of America along with two other suspects to the Murder of Captain Robert Naira.

Now the Nairac Case has been revitalised, the police are in discussions with the US Authorities over extraditing the two remaining suspects. I wish them luck, as I covered America’s habit of sheltering Terrorists in a post on the UK-US Extradition Treaty back in August 2006. However I do think it is worth remembering the Crime these men committed which should have them in front of the War Crimes Tribunal In the Hague, not facing some pathetic two year sentence under the Northern Island Peace Accords:

The following is taken from the George Cross Database and formed part of my post:
Pondering on three types of Courage from May 2005

Quote
On the night of 14/15 May 1977 Captain Nairac was abducted from a village in South Armagh by at least seven men. Despite his fierce resistance he was overpowered and taken across the border into the nearby Republic of Ireland where he was subjected to a succession of exceptionally savage assaults in an attempt to extract information which would have put other lives and future operations at serious risk. These efforts to break Captain Nairac's will failed entirely. Weakened as he was in strength-though not in spirit-by the brutality, he yet made repeated and spirited attempts to escape, but on each occasion was eventually overpowered by the weight of the numbers against him. After several hours in the hands of his captors Captain Nairac was callously murdered by a gunman of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who had been summoned to the scene. His assassin subsequently said "He never told us anything".
Captain Nairac's exceptional courage and acts of the greatest heroism in circumstances of extreme peril showed devotion to duty and personal courage second to none.”
Unquote

I hope the United States is proud that it has sheltered the Cowardly Murderers of such a brave man for 30 Years because it has no moral right to say that it is the Leader on the War Against Terror, whilst providing sanctuary for Terrorists!

Spare a thought and maybe more for our Armed Forces this Christmas

While we fight the effects over indulgence and over spending during this celebration of the birth of Christ, followed by the welcoming of the New Year. Spare a thought for those to whom this festive season is another day of fighting on the front line and another day of worry for their families back here in the UK.

Forget the politicians, our soldiers, sailors and airmen are fighting not for them, but Queen and Country and they deserve our wholehearted support, if nothing more then remember them in your prayers, but if you want to do more, then check out:

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi warns British Muslims against ‘victim culture’

From the Times Online
Philippe Naughton

Conservative peer Baroness Sayeeda Warsi has warned UK Muslims of the dangers of victim culture

The Conservative peer who helped negotiate the release of the primary school teacher jailed in Sudan for allowing her pupils to name a teddy bear Mohamed attacked her fellow British Muslims today for their “victim culture”.

Baroness Warsi, a Conservative spokeswoman on community cohesion, also criticised Labour for its “patronage politics” and for having encouraged the “divisive concept” of multiculturalism.

Lady Warsi, 36, born to Pakistani parents in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, is the youngest member of the House of Lords. She came to public notice earlier this month when she was asked by Lord Ahmed, a Labour peer, to accompany him to Sudan to mediate the release of Gillian Gibbons, who had been jailed for insulting Islam.

The situation in Sudan had been extraordinary and “thankfully” could never happen in the UK, Lady Warsi told a race relations conference in London this morning.

“And yet it had echoes of situations we do get in Britain,” she added, describing how cultural misunderstandings had exacerbated a local problem, which had then been taken up by religious and political leaders “busting for a fight”.

“These three factors – local disputes, cultural misunderstandings and hardliners stirring up trouble – these are very familiar to us in Britain,” she said.

It was entirely possible to respect religious doctrine while living within a democracy, Lady Warsi
said. To do so successfully, it was crucial to make the distinction between religious faith and cultural practice.

“This distinction is vital because there is a growing tendency among some people to describe what are really social expectations – and often pretty dubious ones – as religious requirements".

“…British Muslims have the foremost responsibility here,” she added. “As long as the Muslim community remains in a victim culture, a siege mentality, they allow others to control the debate".

“When it comes to Islam, the majority of Muslims understand the difference between culture and religion. It’s not for others to tell Muslims what is and isn’t Islam. It’s for the community, and in that I include myself, to expound the truth about our faith – not let others interpret it for us. It is for us to be the change – not let others impose it on us. ”

Lady Warsi, who is thought to be the first British Muslim to serve in either the Cabinet or Shadow Cabinet, pointed out that she had gone to Sudan with a Labour peer and had been proud to be part of a bipartisan effort where party differences did not matter.

“But this is not to say that there are no differences between the parties when it comes to cohesion at home,” she added.

“For me, cohesion means that where there is local diversity, different races and religions get along.
Cohesion should never mean multiculturalism, in the way that this concept has been translated by Labour: the doctrine of separate identity, with each group encouraged to feel that identity requires the expression of difference to the point of hostility.

“Multiculturalism has been manipulated to entrench the right to difference, a divisive concept, at the expense of the right to equal treatment despite difference, a unifying concept. And the fact that cohesion is local, means Labour get it wrong when they go in the other direction too. After years of promoting top-down multiculturalism, Gordon Brown is now promoting top-down unity.”

She went on: “Of course, localism has to be in the context of a national consciousness – and that’s why I want us to reverse the failed state multicultural approach and ensure there is sufficient English language teaching for new arrivals, and proper teaching of English history for our children so that they have a deep understanding of our great institutions and how they came to be as they are.

“But to me, Britishness means the opposite of what it means to Gordon. I was bought up to believe that being British meant you didn’t go on about it! It’s not about planting flags on lawns, or inventing a new Veterans Day – as if we should celebrate our country by importing traditions from America.
“Gordon is even consulting far and wide on six words, a motto believe it or not, that encapsulates our nation. Well let me tell him: you’re searching for something you won’t find.

“Britishness is not something that can be put in words. It is about institutions, and traditions, and the shared values which are often felt more than spoken.” Source

---------

This Article has appeared on other Blogs as well as on the Times Online but I feel it is worth republishing here. If the copytight holder objects I shall of course remove it.

Thank You Lord Ahmed and Baroness Warsi

In my last post I was extremely critical of the lack of proactive action by British Muslims in ensuring the idiotic behaviour of their coreligionists in the Sudan in even bringing to trial a British Primary School Teacher who was in the Sudan to help, not as part of some Western Crusader Plot (What drugs are these people taking), let alone jailing her, was resolved.

Fortunately Lord Ahmed and Baroness Warsi, did the correct and honourable thing and flew out to talk to the one Man who could overrule the ignorant clerics and the incompetent judiciary.

I am sure they had to exercise considerable, tact and diplomacy, but thanks to their efforts Gillian Gibbons is now free and back in the UK - So thank you my Lady and my Lord..

Whilst in the Lords, Baroness Warsi sits on the Conservative benches and Lord Ahmed on the Labour side of their Lordships House, they joined together in a common cause and retrieved what had already become a serious situation and was in danger of escalating.

These two Muslim Peers have done much to restore some faith that there are those, at least in the 'Muslim Establishment', who are true to both their faith and their country.

Unfortunately I believe there are far too many who hide behind Islam, but have nothing but loathing for this Country whether of their Birth,or because they obtained Citizenship.

The Muslim communities need to follow these Peers example and to take the correct and honourable course of action and assist the authorities in rooting out these corrupt Islamists and expose them for what they are, a cancer in our society that needs to be rooted out.

A Teddy Bear Called Muhammad

A teacher asked her class to pick a name for their class Mascot a 'Teddy Bear' Now to children of a certain age a Teddy Bear is a 'friend' and therefore it was logical that they should pick a very popular name, in this case a boys name (all Teddy Bears seem to be considered male).
As this is the Sudan it was almost inevitable that the choice would be Muhammad. A perfectly reasonable name for a friend.
The Teacher who feels that parents should be 'kept in the loop' wrote a letter including this news. None of the parents were outraged, or even concerned, after all they understood. But it appears a fellow staff member was deeply affronted that a children's toy should be named after the Muslim Prophet and alerted the authorities.

Now instead of giving this stupid person a dressing down for wasting their time, they arrested the teacher and made her stand trial.

The case of course should have been thrown out, instead the poor woman was convicted and some consider her lucky to have only received an additional 10 days in Jail to be added to the 5 she has already spent in prison awaiting trial.

Welcome to the insane world of the Sudanese Religious Politics
The British Council of Muslims has condemned the Sudanese Government (about time they did something worthwhile), Muslim Writers and even proponents of Shia Law (which I personally find a distasteful legal framework) have done the same.
But I don't see British Muslims protesting outside the Sudanese Embassy.
Why not!.

Muslims in Britain often feel they are misunderstood and marginalised. Well if their coreligionist's insist on acting as if they living in the 12th century and certain Middle Eastern Countries refuse to allow Christians to wear symbols of their faith, certain Mosques preach hatred against Christian and Jews and anti-Christian and Jewish cartoons are regular feature in certain papers. What do they expect.
So this incident is the 'final straw that broke the camels back'.
I have spent my entire adult life believing in religious tolerance, but i am now so fed up with Muslim Intolerance, I now see that pure ideals of the Koran have been corrupted by too many groups and countries for their own agendas so that I now view Islam as something to be treated with suspicion and distrust . A sad conclusion, but one that has been coming for a long time.

The Natwest Three

David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew, the three British former executives of NatWest (now part of Royal Bank of Scotland) who were controversially extradited to the USA to each face seven counts of fraud and who have consistently protested they are innocent, were lying.

On Wednesday the 28th November they pleaded guilty to a single wire fraud charge each in an Enron-related case as part of a deal with U.S. prosecutors.
Initially I was personally disappointed that they were only sentenced to 37 Months in Jail (with no appeal)..
However I am pleased to find that as part of the plea bargain they are going to have to repay $7.35 Million to the RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) which was their 'share' of the $19 Million Fraud carried out against their Employers.

One hopes that the British Authorities now:

• Ensure that once they are released these men are never allowed to work in any part of the Banking and Financial Sectors again.
• Investigate to ascertain if they have carried out other frauds.
• If such frauds are discovered seize their British Assets to the same value.

Although I still believe they treaty under which they were extradited to the USA needs to be revoked and renegotiated - See:
UK-US Extradition Treaty and Certain American Politicians Support for Terrorists (13th August 2006), I am pleased that although they didn't get the 'extremely' heavy sentences i feel they deserve, at least they are going to have to repay the profit from their crime.


Other Related Posts In this Blog:
Extradite Gary McKinnon, no problem. But now let's fix the Extradition Treaty
- 01st August 2009