moonraker

You can take the party politics out of the defence debate, the problem is that politicians as breed have no real understanding of the role of our Armed Forces or respect for the men and women who serve in them and even the civil servants who support them. One Harrier pilot, Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Kris Ward asked the PM: "I have flown 140 odd missions in Afghanistan and I am now potentially facing unemployment. How am I supposed to feel about that sir?" Mr Cameron thanked him for "everything" he had done for his country,” now F**k o**.

The special forces HC 3 Chinooks were ordered by Majors lot a complet contractural FU, alongside our armed forces foreign aid is essential to our credibilty in the world , I dont think that all of the new hospitals and schools support Labour wasted the lot, they didnt get everything right but they got quite a bit right inspite of Brown.

Mates in the navy rarely know what Whitehall is thinking they are far removed form that world. Whilst it may happen it is not currently a serious option, I have worked at both ends .

Have I missed something, this is a Tory decision, they had choices and have got it wrong again, as above ala Thatcher and Knott.

Go to Bath City 3 - 4 times a season, my first ever game at Twerton Park was Bath City V a Southmapton 11 in the late 60's.

If previous tory tax cuts are anything to go by the real winners wont be those on modest incomes.

All the deficit is doing is giving the tories an even bigger excuse for their traditional cust cutting policies, just wait in 4 years there will be plenty of Tax breaks for there core supporters!!

Well now we have visabilty of the "not so strategisc defence review" it is obvious it is a total shambles, Aircraft Carriers with no Aircraft, reductions in persoannel at a time of greatest overstretch, it is typical indiscriminate Tory slash and burn, it is totally incoherrent! Only purpose was cost cutting nothing to do with need aka Thatcher and Knott, that time the Argies saved our defence capabilty, when will we learn the tories are not and never have been friends of the armed forces!!!

I am a regular vistor to Brussesl (Business) and it can be very good tough you need to plan your trip, as to eateries these are 2 of my favourites http://www.restaurantvincent.com/ great steaks and http://www.rugbymantwo.com/ great lobster, neither is particularly cheap. Also in the Grand Place bottom left corner oposite the Hotel de Ville is a bar that does a belgium beer smapler tray (other bars also do this) good way to get a taste for the huge range of beer on offer.

Whilst I understand the questioning of the contract the real question is whether we need the carriers or indeed what should our armed forces look like. GO and his mates have not undertaken anything like a STRATEGIC Defence Review, all his decisions are driven by cost cutting. The previous Government had decided that the carriers were required, in placing orders for long lead items (the most costly elements of the project) the suppliers needed a degree of certainty that the contracts would be honoured or that they would be compensated for the significant investment they have made to fulfil the orders. This is normal commercial practice when you are placing multi million pound contracts the supplier cannot be expected to take all of the risk. It is worth noting that the UK's ability to design and build complex warships rests on this project, if we loose the skills, and believe me we are very close, then all future RN ships will be designed and built overseas, anyone for a German MEKO or French FREMM.

The Olive Tree is excellent, it is in Russell Street and the Hotel is The Queensbury.

Some good ideas already mentioned, I can second the canal walk, Alexandra Park for views, on the way up or back into town the Bear Pub on Bear Flat is very good, both drink and food, the comedy walk, despite the comment above the open top bus tour is a good way to see a lot, also the museum of costume in the Assembly Rooms, the best park in town is Sydney Gardens both the railway and canal bisect it. If you like proper pubs there are a number of excellent ones in the city centre, The Old Green Tree in Green Street, The Raven, Queen Street, The Salamander 30 yards north of the Raven, The Garricks Head next to the Theatre Royal and the Bell in Walcot Street, for a more contemporary bar try Hall and Woodhouse another 50 yards north of the Salamander or the Lounge . You say you have shortlisted eateries but a few I would recommend are top of Walcot Street (Pricey but great steaks) Hudsons, Woods next to the Assembly Rooms, The White Heart in Widcombe, The Thai Balcony near the Theatre Royal, Messaluna (Italian) Kingsmead Square, for lighter lunch /cafe food try Cafe Retro York Street, The Wild Cafe Queen Street, Say Pasta St James Parade, The Green Park Brasserie Green Park Station, Banglos Lower Bristol Road, Hon Fusion Widcombe Parade, whatever you do do not use Binks Cafe in the Abbey Churchyard or the Eastern Eye Indian.

If someone asks you to stop swearing then you should shut the f**k up!

So it is believed they are Saints supporters but not known if they attended the match! Lazy journalism, or are all perpetrators of violence to be associated with a football team as in “a man was left with serious injuries following a road rage incident, the attacker is a supporter of Gasworks Rovers, although it is not known when he last attended a game”. I can in no way condone these actions but I get really annoyed when journo’s take cheap shots at football supporters

Double page spread in the Observer yesterday about Shilts, he said Mardona invited him onto his Argentinian chat show, Shiltons conditions to appear included Mardona admiting he was a cheat!! as he would not Shilts refused to appear.

Trouble is after tory boy has finished with the armed forces the fortress gates will truly be open

This, they thrive on fear, if you are noty afraid it is part way to neutralising them.

If you go right back through the 125 years, whilst accuracymay be hard to establish, I am sure you will find gates as low as 1500 reported .

Or as I said above not willing to pay for something that does not improve what we have got, and of course our LI position means attracting better players is difficult and in my humble opinion we should not pay over the odds salaries. There is far to much inflationary pressure in football already and I do not want SFC to add to it especially as we are “only visitors” to L1 a place that has many great clubs and great supporters who will only suffer from reckless spending.

You can’t relate how much money the club has or does not have to transfer activity; if there is no one available that the manager believes will improve the squad then you don’t spend money no matter how much you have. NA will be well aware of the where he needs to strengthen actually doing that is the difficult part. Numerous threads on here have identified the weaknesses, with a degree of agreement, but apart from wild speculation and wishful thinking none proposed a realistic solution. In short I very much doubt we are skint, cautious and businesslike, yes.

Jimmi created the HESCO Bastion Concertainer which has been a key component in providing Force Protection since the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and is used by major military organisations around the world. He is the sort of entrepreneur business man this country needs unlike Green and Pearson. He has been a big supporter Inner City Charities and Help for Heroes and it is estimated he has donated over £23m to charities. He will be very much missed by many people who have benefitted from his generosity.

The LD vote was on a par with the previous general election, when no Brown effect was in play so I am not sure your assumption is that sound. Additionally you make the same mistake as the media, that all of the population is either Labour or Tory and only votes for A N Other party as some sort of protest. I do agree that Clegg in taking the (right) decision for the country has jeopardised the electoral appeal of the LDs.

The art of Sloe Gin making has been a family tradition for as long as I can remember and it is our first drink on Christmas day! Even when I was away at Christmas fighting for Queen and Country my family ensured I received my "Tot". There is no secret recipe the one above will produce the right effect, turning the bottle ever day is important, if you would like a more full bodied result use Demerara Sugar. The need for a frost can be replecated by freezing the sloes for 24 hours. I shall be out this weekend gathering in the harvest.

Fortunately I am sure there are more Americana’s who think she and her absurd TEA party are an embarrassment to their nation and so she will not get voted in. I had dinner with a US colleague last week and he is very happy with Palin as he believes it will benefit Obhama and improve his chance of a 2nd term.

It only needs one quote to prove your point, the child is obviously not fully in control of his faculties.