Sun Setting on British Power .

Originally posted by tom.farnhill
reply to post by wcitizen

 

yes the british empire did do a lot of atrocities and usually on the behalf of pioneering traders , but times have changed , the british people can not and should not be held responsible for these acts that was carried out by our ancestors.

please remember that these were the times when if a man poached a rabbit from the land owned by some lord,
to feed his starving family , he would have been hung on the gallows

but the one good thing that did come from the empire , was a common language ( english )
you must realise that without the english language there would not be sites like this one that can reach to all corners of the planet .

What in my post made you think I was blaming the british people?
The despotic rulers have had their way too long. That system is waaay past its sell by date.

I agree that a 'common language' has immense benefits, I don't believe invading and extorting half the world in was a good way of achieving it. However, perhaps the 'common language' will in the end bring the downfall of the feudal system we live in, as people unite and support each other across the globe to bring the system down.

reply to post by wcitizen

it was not an accusation and i am sorry you thought it was , i was just pointing out that of all the bad things that was carried out during the days of the british empire the common language of english has helped global communication .

reply to post by djcarlosa


Not against you, but who are the WE?

And how can WE do something about it?

Like I say, just thinking?

Excuse me, when were the British relying on the Americans during Operation Ellamy?

The British have two carrier forces at present with the retirement of Ark Royal and scrapping of Invincible.

These doom-sayers would do well to to some research.

Britain weilds zero power over any of those countries,

Sorry, but it does. The Commonwealth still requires an agreement of subservience to the Crown.

reply to post by Morg234

Errrm no, the HMS Illustrious has been re-configured as a helicopter carrier (aka a glorified amphibious assault ship). The Royal Navy will not have any actual aircraft carriers until the HMS Queen Elizabeth and the HMS Prince of Wales are commissioned in the 2020s.

Of course in 2020 there won't be enough destroyers and frigates to form 2 carrier battle groups much less handle all the other Royal Navy deployments (ie: the West Indies Guardship, Gibraltar squadron, Falklands squadron, etc). The Royal Navy needs a minimum of 10 (instead of 6) Type 45 destroyers and 16 (instead of 13) Type 26 frigates. I also recommend additional River class offshore patrol vessels.

British power declined sharply immediately after WW2, simply because the country was virtually bankrupt. The vast majority of advanced military projects developed in Britain after that conflict were cancelled due to lack of funding. Some, such as the advanced TSR2 project, were not simply cancelled but comprehensively destroyed beyond any hope of resurrection.

Then you have the irreversible decline of manufacturing capability in Britain. This has harmed British interests in three distinct, and important, ways. Firstly the simple numbers game of not having the capability to increase manufacturing output in times of crisis. In the early years of WW2 it was this capability that helped Britain "stand alone", lend-lease equipment notwithstanding. Secondly we have lost many valuable skills that are proving to be difficult to replace. Thirdly, a nation generates wealth by earning foreign income. The service industry economy, whose chief architect was Thatcher, is not capable of earning anything like the amount of money that a strong manufacturing industry can generate.

Now we have the wilful and deliberate weakening of British military power, ostensibly on economic grounds. Virtually complete Nimrod MRA4 patrol/ ASW aircraft were destroyed on grounds of cost and systems obsolescence. Neither of those arguments held water; they were for the most part bought and paid for, and the so called obsolete systems were no more obsolete than those in the endlessly delayed F35/ JSF. The F35s avionics are based around what is essentially an IBM 970FX core dating back to 2002. Hardly cutting edge. For an island nation, the capability gap left by losing the eyes and ears of these machines is a serious one.

The loss of the Harrier and Jaguar fleet, both retired early and unexpectedly, leaves Britain with little in the way of tactical airpower. There is a Tornado fleet dangerously low on fatigue life and a much reduced fleet of Typhoons which are still not cleared to deploy the majority of tactical munitions in the British inventory. Their effectiveness has been further reduced by the questionable decision to remove their guns, again on cost grounds. Incredibly, the vital air refuelling fleet (doubly vital with the removal of a fixed wing carrier arm) will be transferred into essentially commercial hands and made available to the RAF on a pay as you go basis. The private operators insisted on a clause that in effect allows them to use the tankers as regular commercial transports as and when they see fit with little regard for operational requirements. The future carrier fleet's fate is far from decided too. The F35 order has been repeatedly slashed and now stands at a level that is unlikely to meet future requirements.

The Royal Navy has been decimated both in terms of manpower and equipment, as if the lessons of history have passed our government by completely. The army is to undergo savage cuts, and when the Challenger 2 MBT retires around 2020 it is currently unlikely to be replaced.

The real world cost savings of these cuts? In the region of £20bn over the lifetime of the current parliament. The amount of money the government has just found to effectively underwrite sub prime loans to small businesses? In the region of £20bn. Coincidence?

The only reason the UK has lost its power in the world is the continuous cuts, by previous and the current UK Governments. Reducing the budget of the UK Armed forces since the end of the 2nd World War.

Now the the UK has no carrier fleet, both Ark Royal and Illustrious, now do not have any winged air units on them since the Present Government killed off the Beloved Harrier Jump Jet. Both New carriers wont be ready until 2030 at the latest, and it has been reduced down to 1 carrier the other will be mothballed.

Any Government whom has been in power since the end of World War 2, have had nothing but contempt for our armed forces. And if anyone disagrees, then you are delusional. It makes me wonder why Young guys and girls still want to join our armed forces after being treated in such a way.

Britain may be without a fully operational aircraft carrier until 2030, according to a report published by the Commons spending watchdog.

HMS Prince of Wales will not enter service - it will be built but not kitted out, and then kept as a reserve vessel - while HMS Queen Elizabeth is expected to go into service around 2020, with both said to cost £5.9bn.

BBC NEWS