Thin Pinstriped Line

oppy season is here again, that time of year when politicians, celebrities and others compete to wear the biggest and most garish poppy. The media are on tenterhooks, waiting to spot a public figure without one, or even better someone wearing a white poppy or saying how they don’t believe in poppy day. The Guardian and Independent will run articles decrying the event, which will have the effect of raising the blood pressure of people across the country who have never served but feel the need to be OUTRAGED on behalf of those who have. Frankly I think this garish spectacle is getting worse every year, and I wonder if the time has come to rethink it. I come from humble roots. Looking back over 100 years of ‘Appleby’ family history and you will find coal miners on Tyneside and farmers in Essex, all living in relative poverty. One direct side of my family has a long history of service with the Reserves. My great grandfather was in the TA before WW1, mobilising as a Private in a TA r...

Monday 23 October was Defence Questions in the House of Commons. Ministers lined up to take a verbal onslaught of questions about current defence issues, including shipbuilding, European security and, of course, the current situation regarding HMS ALBION & BULWARK. Throughout the entire session, all the Ministers refused to give a clear answer on the situation with the two ships. They did not rule out scrapping them, highlighted that there were other capabilities present and suggested that no decision had yet been taken on the fate of the ships. What then is going on? Why Not Rule It Out? It makes sense for Ministers to not rule out a specific commitment as part of an ongoing review in the House. Firstly, to emphatically rule something out, even if it is only a hypothetical option means you have constrained the work of the review team – not just in its quest for savings, but also in understanding what it is that UK national security objectives need to be. The revie...

The Daily Mail has broken the story ( HERE ) that apparently the Army will allow cocaine users to stay in the military if they fail a drug test in their basic training. This has been accompanied by lots of outraged quotes from retired senior officers about how things have gone to pot. Is this really the case though, or is the Daily Mail possibly exaggerating for effect? Rereading the notes cited in the paper, a more simple explanation emerges. The UK armed forces rightly have a zero tolerance policy towards the use of any illegal drugs for serving personnel. Anyone found to have failed a Compulsory Drugs Test (CDT) will be discharged very quickly afterwards, with no sympathy from their peers. A tiny, tiny number may in exceptional circumstances be given a second chance, but this will be a mistake that impacts on their career prospects for years to come. There is no change to the policy that anyone outside of Part 1 training will be subjected to CDT and quickly dismissed if the...

The news that BAE systems has decided not to lead a bid on the Type 31e frigate, and instead opt to work with Cammell Laird, who will prime on the bid, has sent ructions through the UK shipbuilding industry. Scottish unions have reacted with dismay, seeing ‘a betrayal’ in the reduction of work they felt had been promised to the Clydes yards, with only 8, rather 13 ships being built now. While this news may have upset many in Glasgow, it in fact represents good news for the UK shipbuilding industry, as it is now all but certain that Type 31e will be built elsewhere in the UK. In the medium to long term, this is very good news for the UK Government and taxpayer. The move over the last few years to consolidate the UK military surface ship building industry has seen heavy concentration of resources in Scotland, where shipyards in both Rosyth and Glasgow have delivered the Type 45 and CVF programmes. There is currently no alternate yard in the UK building surface warships for the R...

Listening to the House of Commons Defence Committee this afternoon was a fairly tortuous process, in a session that, regardless of what else was covered will be remembered for the assurances by PUS that ‘there isn’t a black hole in Defence’. Listening again to his words it is clear that he is being very precise – and technically he is right. The black hole of 2010 came about due to the large amount of unfunded aspirations across the equipment programme that had no identified pool of cash to draw on. Part of the SDSR in 2010 involved ruthlessly cutting those programmes, and establishing over time a pool of funds that would be released to programmes as required (so-called contingency). Technically PUS was accurate – the way MOD funding is done, it is the case that there isn’t the same type of ‘black hole’ as in 2010. But this does not take away the wider picture that no matter how you want to spin it, Defence is in a very bleak financial position indeed. When pushed for de...

The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team (RAFAT), more commonly known as the ‘Red Arrows’ have returned to the UK from their tour out to the Middle East. At a time when the UK defence budget is under unprecedented pressure to cut, cut, cut, is it really an appropriate use of scare cash to keep the Reds in the air? This article will aim to consider what it is that the Red Arrows do and why many see them as having so much value, even at times of pressure. The role of the Reds is arguably to simply showcase the very best of the flying skills in the RAF. Their work requires huge levels of professionalism and dedication to ensure that they continue to provide thrilling displays of aerial acrobatics that requires airmanship of the highest calibre to deliver. Their programme is a combination of both displays in the UK, reaching out to home audiences at air shows and domestic flypasts, and a global tour which annually deploys around the world to support trade shows, air shows and other key visi...

Twitter followers will be aware that Humphrey is on holiday at the moment, hence the reduced postings, but one story is running that is absolutely worthy of breaking radio silence to comment on. This is the news that the RN may lose both of its LPDs (ALBION and BULWARK) as savings measures under the latest miniature defence review being conducted in the Cabinet Office. Humphrey has absolutely no idea what is, or is not, being discussed as part of this review, but given the furore on Twitter, it seems timely to try to set out what is actually going on. Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright What Is An Option? To begin with, lets define what an ‘option ‘actually is, to help set the context as to why these reports have circulated. When the MOD conducts reviews, be it short term planning rounds or larger defence reviews, it is assigned a top level budget target that it has to meet for spending. This figure is broken up among the different front line commands, with the...