Fitaloon at MicroShaft

Just a reminder to those who favour the “Rainbow” Alliance.

There is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, believe it or not it is a fairy story. Those minor parties such as the SNP and Plaid need to remember this when having any discussions with the duplicitous Labour Party, any promises are there to be broken, any bribes money offered can and will be withdrawn on the merest pretext.

One other thing to remember is that when dealing with Mandelson the Snake is too look for the poison hidden with the prize, it will always be there just not where you expect it to be.

Oh and watch out for Gordon withdrawing his offer to go, when all goes to pot, he will phrase it as being in the “National Interest” when in fact he means his own interest.

Oh and to those Nice Lib Dems don’t forget that you offered the UK a “New Politics”, I see that lasted all of  a weekend, “Old Politics” soon returned when offered a scent of Power.

In the meantime Politics is watching a disaster unfold as we argue not about how to sort out the Economy, but how we might vote sometime in the future. A subject so vital that it barely registers on the scale of important things facing whatever future government we might have. It is time to get real and set about sorting out the mess Gordon has left us in.

And one final piece of advice for Adam Boulton , next time when Mr Campbell is obnoxious, just pan him one, the rest of the country will pay your fine and elevate you to a god-like status. Campbell’s games would not be allowed in a decent government.

Kay Burley’s expression at the end just says it all.

Please listen to this update on the terrible Afghanistan situation and the depths the Defence budget is sinking to at the moment. Paddy says the situation in Afghanistan is extremely bad and getting worse. He details the fact that this year we lost 12 members of our Armed Forces in May versus 3  in 2008.  The USA lost 70 personnel in the same time. Also the fact the we have divisions in the alliance about how we are tackling the problem. If it was not for MP’s expenses this would and should be Front Page news every day.

According to Paddy we may shortly have one option and that is containment. Our Defence budget is apparently so bad, according to Paddy,  that both Labour and Conservatives will not talk about it for fear of exposing how much it is overspent. Paddy says it is about 9 billion pounds per year on a budget of 36 billion. If this is true it means that we now have a Defence Ministry in Crisis and  we have the lickspittle “slow Bob” Ainsworth supposedly in charge, this is the stuff of nightmares.

We must do more for our Armed Forces and in particular we must make sure their sacrifices in Afghanistan are not in vain. Containment is not what we should be seeking, we must do better and come up with a joint strategy that deals with the Afghanistan position, we cannot just hope to sweep this story under the carpet and leave it to fester, we must attack it head on and ensure that our Armed Forces are supported and funded properly and that we and our allies have a path forward that ensures a successful outcome in Afghanistan.

Here are some extracts from the Interview.

Lord Ashdown said that the situation in Afghanistan was deteriorating and had become “extremely bad” both in terms of the military and political position.

“I’ve been watching the situation very, very closely. I think it’s now extremely bad, I think the dynamic is now accelerating against us,’ he said.

He warned that there were divisions within the alliance at the strategy of forces there had become a “laughing stock” on the ground.

“The policy of take and hold and build is basically a laughing stock because we’re not taking anything really except a few kilometres from our bases,” he said.

“The soldiers are as always doing a magnificent job, but there are divisions in the alliance,” he added warning of “serious concerns, even criticism, in Washington about the lack of offensive spirit of British forces”.

Lord Ashdown also said that the military strategy needed to be backed up with a political strategy in Afghanistan, warning that an increase in troop numbers would accomplish little on its own.

He warned that the country was facing a ‘political crisis’ as the Taliban were gaining from the unpopularity of President Hamid Karzai, who he claimed had “hoodwinked” his western backers by seeking re-election,.

“I don’t think he has the support among his own people,” he said. “They will turn more likely to the Taliban for the support if he does get re-elected”.