It’s The Poor That Get’s The Blame

For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have more:
but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
Matthew 25:29

Lord Guthrie (Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank of Craigiebank in the City of Dundee) and some chums also former Chiefs of the Defence Staff and assorted brass hats have formed an association entitled the United Kingdom National Defence Association to demand more public money for the arms budget.

Their opening gambit at a press conference in London on 8th November was for an extra £15billion a year, a mere 40% hike! Asked by the Guardian where the nation could find such sums he suggested that giving aid to Africa was a “waste”.

In Africa 46% of the under-5’s are registered as underweight and in Africa, according to Water Aid, a child dies every 15 seconds, 4900 every day, from a water-related disease.
On the 2nd July this year the UN warned the whole of sub-Saharan Africa -the poorest region of the world- will fail to meet the goals set 7 years ago for eradicating poverty by 2015.

Of course, Lord Guthrie and his chums are just about the least qualified to talk about wasting public money for not only did the Commons last week identify his friends guzzling their way through £10million of gourmet food and wine in a 2-year long binge but successive Audit Commission reports have condemned the criminal waste in procurement procedures by the Ministry of Defence.
The 2004 Report exposing the Ministry of Defence’s 20 largest projects as 144 months behind schedule and £3billion over budget.

On this evidence Africa might say giving money to Lord Guthrie was a “Waste”.

A Tale of Two Countries or Do We All Have To Tighten Our Belts?

Fears are growing amongst Scottish Local Councils that next year’s Rate Support Grant settlement will not be sufficient to allow them to meet their service obligations.

The Dundee Courier of 26 October reported Fife Council as believing their 2008 government funding may result in a 3% cut across departments. As the Courier editorial points out “indications are that the fat years are over and the lean years are upon us”.

Fair enough the party’s over.

Let’s forget the fact that ordinary people never did get an invitation, why does a government which is forcing Fife to contemplate quadrupling it’s meals on wheels charges, why does it allow the military top brass to run up a huge wining and dining bill? For following a series of questions by the MP for Durham North, Kevan Jones, a member of the Commons defense committee, the Ministry of Defense has admitted Britain’s top military personnel spent an astonishing £10 million in the last two years on entertainment.

Sir Richard Dannet, chief of the general staff and his predecessor Sir Mike Jackson ran up tabs of £22,000 and £21,000 alone.

In his masterpiece, A tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens comes to the conclusion that life in late 18th century France was depending on your place in the social pecking order, “the best of times or the worst of times”.

And so today…while they’re passing the Krug in the Cavalry Club mess, in Kelty they’ll be asking if the home help will turn up.