Fitaloon at MicroShaft

Gordon Brown’s statement that the Defence Budget has gone up every year is Fiction. That is the fact. Cathy Newman also describes Brown’s use of  “near cash” terms as “Fiscally Illiterate“.

So during PMQ’s Gordon Brown has uttered yet more Brownies and yet again he will get away with them unless both Cameron and Clegg hammer him again and again at PMQ’s about this.

It is time to get the gloves off and call a Liar a Liar, none of the pissing about, some direct straightforward words that any Tommy, Dick and Harry will understand, no more disingenuous, no more being  economical with the actualité, no more revelation of a totally fissured and dysfunctional government, no more Brownies, call them what they are in reality LIES.

Only then will the public begin to understand what this man has done to Britain, He has turned this one geat nation into Broken Britain, and he wants, by any means, to have Five more years to destroy it totally. He tried to tell us this morning that he wouldn’t let us down, sadly this is yet another of his reworked phrases, he told us this back in 2007 at his first Labour Conference as Prime Minister, and even more sadly he has not just let us down, he has totally bankrupted this Country, to try and say he won’t let us down down  is beyond belief.

This is no time for a Broken and Discredited Prime Minister and his Broken and Discredited Government.

Let’s just look at a it more of what Cathy Newman tell us about Gordon’s Lies:

The analysis
In real terms – i.e. taking account of inflation – Gordon Brown is wrong. Figures given to us by the Ministry of Defence (see table below) show the defence budget fell year-on-year in real terms on four occasions since 1997 when Labour came to power – in 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2007.

Worse, the defence budget also fell below 1997 levels (again in real terms) on four occasions – 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2002.

“Near cash”
The MoD says Gordon Brown wasn’t talking about real terms growth, but was instead referring to “near cash” rises in the defence budget. “Near cash” is the simplest form of the military budget, the most basic cash figure – without inflation or depreciation taken into account.

According to the Institute For Fiscal Studies, inflation has to be factored in to make spending comparisons meaningful. So Brown was at the very least playing fast and loose with the figures by ignoring inflation.

Wrong again?
However, Gordon Brown also stated today in the Commons that the “expenditure of the Ministry of Defence has been rising in real terms under this government”. Taking him absolutely literally, “this government” was elected in 2005. But here he is also wrong. As we’ve seen just now, spending fell in real terms in 2007.

FactCheck likes a belt and braces approach, so we called several experts – including Mark Stoker, a military economist at the International Institute For Strategic Studies.

He pointed out NATO also provide accounts on defence budgets, and he reckons these numbers are more accurate.

Still falling
Looking at the NATO figures, the defence budget fell from £34.4bn in 2007 to £32.8bn in 2008.

“If you look at Nato’s figures Gordon Brown’s statement is incorrect,” says Stoker. “Either way, both sets of data indicate that the budget has not risen every year.”

Cathy Newman’s verdict
Defence spending has gone up in “near cash” terms, but it’s fiscally illiterate to use this measure, and the former chancellor knows it. The government is on firmer ground when it points out that the departmental budget is 10 per cent higher this year than in 1997, but FactCheck has established that Gordon Brown’s central claim that the defence budget has gone up every year is fiction.

This is Cathy Newman checking the facts, what she doesn’t mention that these are using figures compared against standard inflation, Sadly Defence Industry Inflation is much higher (5-10%) than normal inflation.

Vote for Change.

via The FactCheck Blog – Brown gets defensive about budgets.

The Telegraph tells us that:

In an excoriating report by MPs, the Defence Minister Quentin Davies was singled out for being “disingenuous” in giving evidence to the Commons Defence Committee. The Defence Equipment report also condemned the MoD for attempting to balance its annual budget by delaying projects and commissioning work it cannot afford.

In one example, the decision to make short term savings by delaying the introduction of the two aircraft carriers to 2015 has cost £674 million out of the £5.2 billion project.

The cost increases were “unsustainable in the context of a tightening budget situation and illustrate precisely the reasons why the equipment programme has become out of balance with the budget,” the report said.

Liam Fox the shadow defence secretary, said it was now clear that the MoD was

“operating in Wonderland”.

“It is nonsensical to deny the very existence of a deficit, refuse to share crucial information with the Defence Committee and consistently order equipment with no means of paying for it.”

Quentin Davies the Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, was singled out for giving misleading answers to the committee when he denied a huge funding gap for purchases existed claiming, without producing any evidence, that it was only £6 billion when it was in fact £21 billion and probably now stands at £36 billion.

So yet another department in the corrupt Government is fudging the figures and lying about it’s commitments.  You don’t need to worry though, 15 billion isn’t really a lot of money, when we are 180 billion in deficit just for this year alone.

Why any sane Political party would want to win the next  General Election is getting beyond me. When they have finally worked out that Gordon Brown has utterly wrecked our Economy, it will them who will be blamed  rather than Gordon Brown.

Vote for Change. It really is the only way of saving this once great Country

MoD ‘deliberately obstructive’ in covering up cost overruns – Telegraph.

It’s available here.

The Green Paper, titled Adaptability and Partnership: Issues for the Strategic Defence Review, analyses the complex and uncertain future for which the Government must plan, sets out some essential principles for defence going forward, and identifies key questions that the SDR must address, including:

• What contribution should the Armed Forces make in ensuring security within the UK?
• How could we more effectively employ the Armed Forces in support of wider efforts to prevent conflict and strengthen international stability?
• Do our current international defence and security relationships require rebalancing in the longer term?
• Should we integrate our forces with those of key allies and partners?

Since the last full SDR in 1998, the threats to our national security have changed dramatically. While we know that our defence priority today is Afghanistan, we must also prepare for the threats of the future.

Ministry of Defence | Defence News | Defence Policy and Business | MOD sets the big questions for Strategic Defence Review.

Bonkers

Two days ago we had Gordon Brown promising all sorts (Liquorice please) of things for the Defence Budget he had planned, he even repeated some of these to the House of Commons Liaison  Commitee yesterday.

Why did Gordon Brown make these pronouncements when he obviously knows this country can’t afford them. It all comes down to him trying to big up Labour’s commitment to the Armed Forces which he has roundly ignored for the past 13 years and starved of money at every opportunity. His hatred of anything Tory blinds him to any sort of reality

Today we have the thoughts of minds a little less deluded than Bonkers Brown.

According to the Telegraph

The country can no longer afford to fund current operations in Afghanistan and all the equipment now on order for the Armed Forces, a Ministry of Defence green paper will make clear.

The Daily Telegraph has seen a copy of the paper, which will be published on Wednesday.

The stark admission from Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, will undermine Gordon Brown’s attempts to claim Labour is committed to big defence projects like the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carriers and the new fighters to fly from them.

In an attempt to put pressure on the Conservatives over defence spending, Mr Brown wants to fight the general election on a promise to keep those “big ticket” projects.

Independent defence analysts said that the state of the public finances mean such promises are simply not believable. The MoD green paper also accepts that cuts are inevitable.

“We cannot proceed with all the activity and preparation we currently aspire to while simultaneously supplying our current operations and investing in the new capacity we need,”

Now who should we believe Bonkers Brown or an MOD green Paper. I know who I believe.

Time for a Change.

Budget cuts ‘will leave Britain reliant on war allies’, MoD green paper says – Telegraph.

Always and Forever

The sad news that two soldiers from 3 Yorks have been killed in Afghanistan was released tonight by the MOD.

It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that two British soldiers from 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (3 YORKS), were killed in Helmand province earlier today, Monday 1 February 2010.

The soldiers, who were serving as part of the 1 Coldstream Guards Battle Group, were killed as a result of two improvised explosive device (IED) explosions near Malgir, which lies between Babaji and Gereshk.

Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield, Spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said:

“It is with deep sadness I must inform you that IEDs claimed the lives of two British soldiers this morning in the Malgir area of Central Helmand, an area between Babaji and Gereshk. The soldiers were on a foot patrol when the explosions happened.

“Two of our comrades, taken from us in the course of their duty, whose resolute bravery and sacrifice we will remember.”

The soldiers’ next of kin have been informed and have asked for a period of grace before further details are released.

My thoughts are tonight with the family and friends of the dead.

Ministry of Defence | Defence News | Military Operations | Two soldiers from 3 YORKS killed in Afghanistan.