The Tories Would Abolish The RAF

The neocons have long wanted to abolish the RAF. And lest anyone doubt that they are in firm control of the Conservative Party, but have not the guts to publish their real aims in a British newspaper, take a look this:

"It has long been the dirty little secret of the U.K. defence establishment that a way to streamline the command structure, reduce duplication and slash costs is to close the RAF. There are two options for how it could be done:

1) Abolish the traditional three services and switch to a single marine corps model, with all three services effectively merging under new leadership. Or,

2) Split the RAF’s capacity between the two remaining services, giving the army the lift and delivery components and the navy responsibility for the strike capability, meaning fighters etc.

A thoughtful Brigadier of my acquaintance, who favours option 1, says that inside the MoD there is a growing acceptance that the existing three service model is too expensive and unsustainable. Not a soul will say this in public, yet."

The author, Iain Martin, rounds off with this:

"It’s enough to give those in the Tory leadership nightmares, and probably persuade them not to be so radical. But if they don’t cut something of that order it is difficult to see how the circle can be squared on British defence spending. If it is not to be the RAF, then what goes instead?"

Er, Trident? It's just a thought.

Both scrapping Trident and saving the RAF are views that I have expressed so frequently and so forcefully that even the creator of the Facebook Group David Lindsay for North-West Durham MP saw fit to write them both in. Quite right, too.