Super-Twat

[mrcharly-YHT]

Priti Patel.

I thought she already had honorary life membership?

[rogerzilla]

While I'm sure Jeremy Corbyn is an excellent human being, the idea that we would spend billions on Trident submarines without Trident missiles is extremely twattish.  Why would you still want to incur billions and billions of expense just to keep people in a job at the shipyards? Re-train them or pension them off; stuff their mouths with gold in compensation and you're still quids in.

[rr]

Priti Patel.

I thought she already had honorary life membership?

What has she done now? One of the good things about moving to Chelmsford is that I am no longer "represented" by her.

[Efrogwr]

Priti Patel.

I thought she already had honorary life membership?

What has she done now? One of the good things about moving to Chelmsford is that I am no longer "represented" by her.

Stating that Iain Duncan Smith is doing God's work.

[Efrogwr]

Melanie Phillips, for her comments about sex education.

[hellymedic]

Melanie Phillips

FTFY...

[mcshroom]

Lord Farmer
http://metro.co.uk/2016/01/31/peer-says-300-daily-allowance-for-attending-house-of-lords-isnt-enough-5654252/

[Efrogwr]

Melanie Phillips

FTFY...

Thanks. I agree, but MM's latest piece (in the Spectator, about transgender issues being discussed) really got under my skin. One of EMinor's friends is struggling to come to terms with being trans.

[rr]

Priti Patel.

I thought she already had honorary life membership?

What has she done now? One of the good things about moving to Chelmsford is that I am no longer "represented" by her.

Stating that Iain Duncan Smith is doing God's work.

Good god 

[clarion]

Jeremy 'OnLineRashClinic' Hunt

[mrcharly-YHT]

Andrej Ciesielski

[Polar Bear]

While I'm sure Jeremy Corbyn is an excellent human being, the idea that we would spend billions on Trident submarines without Trident missiles is extremely twattish.  Why would you still want to incur billions and billions of expense just to keep people in a job at the shipyards? Re-train them or pension them off; stuff their mouths with gold in compensation and you're still quids in.

Agreed Roger.   Where does that put the twattish ConDems who decided that we will actually have aircraft carriers but no planes on them?

[red marley]

While I'm sure Jeremy Corbyn is an excellent human being, the idea that we would spend billions on Trident submarines without Trident missiles is extremely twattish.  Why would you still want to incur billions and billions of expense just to keep people in a job at the shipyards? Re-train them or pension them off; stuff their mouths with gold in compensation and you're still quids in.

*Jeremy Corbyn condemned for his pragmatic response to realpolitik and is urged to take a principled uncompromising stance instead*

[spesh]

While I'm sure Jeremy Corbyn is an excellent human being, the idea that we would spend billions on Trident submarines without Trident missiles is extremely twattish.  Why would you still want to incur billions and billions of expense just to keep people in a job at the shipyards? Re-train them or pension them off; stuff their mouths with gold in compensation and you're still quids in.

Agreed Roger.   Where does that put the twattish ConDems who decided that we will actually have aircraft carriers but no planes on them?

That's comparing apples and oranges. Corbyn would have no intention of seeing the subs fitted with their intended primary armament, whereas it is very much the intention to see the carriers fitted out with aircraft. There's just the non-trivial matter of the testing and development of the F-35 taking rather longer than was anticipated back when the Sea Harriers were retired.

As far as the retirement of the Harrier GR7/9s under the 2010 SDSR is concerned, there was the non-trivial matter of a multi-billion Pound hole in the MoD's procurement budget, that had arisen from the serial procurement and project management fuck-ups that had occurred on Labour's watch, most notably Nimrod MRA4, Type 45, Astute and the carriers.

Edited to add:

The decision as to which aircraft type to retire was probably based on recommendations made by the RAF, who would have a better idea than practically all of the forum membership regarding which out of Harrier and Tornado was worth keeping. My wild-assed guess is that Tornado was kept because it had better performance and could carry the full range of ordnance, and the process of certifying Typhoon for strike operations had only just begun.

[TimC]

It wasn't just the procurement budget, it was the operating budget. Something had to go, and go quick. The Harrier was going anyway, and had an issue with fatigue that was going to be quite expensive (though far from impossible) to fix. The capabilities of the Harrier and Tornado are not comparable in any realistic way. The Harrier was designed for very short-range battlefield use, which adapted acceptably (given that there wasn't a choice and the Navy already know how to operate the thing) to the carrier scenario. The Tornado is infinitely more capable, so long as decent infrastructure is available to support it.

[jsabine]

The Harrier [...] had an issue with fatigue that was going to be quite expensive (though far from impossible) to fix.

How well does that tie in with the fact that the US Marine Corps (IIRC) bought the ex-RAF fleet and was reported to be planning to keep its own planes running until 2030 or so? Were the UK planes simply to be broken for parts?

[spesh]

The latter - they were purchased as spares donors.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/uk-harrier-fleet-sold-as-115-million-worth-of-spare-parts-365277/

[TimC]

Yes, I don't remember the details of the issues the RAF Harriers faced, but they wouldn't have been helped by their relatively intense usage rate versus the US Marines' fleet. However, the largely composite structure (made mostly in the USA, I believe) is fairly easy to look after and repair if you have the facilities of the largest military support infrastructure in the world! To all intents and purposes, the AV8B (Harrier GR5/7/9) is an American, not British, product.

[menthel]

Jeremy Hunt for obvious reasons. And the rest of the weasels in the NHS apparatus whom only care about their futures in private business and gongs from the queen. Fuckers the lot of them.

[rr]

Jeremy Hunt for obvious reasons. And the rest of the weasels in the NHS apparatus whom only care about their futures in private business and gongs from the queen. Fuckers the lot of them.

There really ought to be a "these people are hyper- twats and always will be, so we don't need to keep mentioning them" thread.
First in Hunt and Priti Patel

[MagnusOpus]

Jeremy Hunt for obvious reasons. And the rest of the weasels in the NHS apparatus whom only care about their futures in private business and gongs from the queen. Fuckers the lot of them.

There really ought to be a "these people are hyper- twats and always will be, so we don't need to keep mentioning them" thread.
First in Hunt and Priti Patel

I don't think it can be stated too often what a twunt hunt is

[Polar Bear]

Jeremy Bastard Hunt and his pack of cronies.   I see this as a deliberate attempt to destabilise the NHS in readiness for privatisation.

[mcshroom]

On the flip side, I suppose the staffing shortages in Scotland, Wales and Northern ireland are suddenly going to become a lot less accute

So now he's imposing a contract, last time he refused to honour the recommendation of an independent arbiter on nurses' pay. Negotiation in good faith isn't exactly a skill of his is it! What ever happened to supply and demand?

[menthel]

On the flip side, I suppose the staffing shortages in Scotland, Wales and Northern ireland are suddenly going to become a lot less accute

So now he's imposing a contract, last time he refused to honour the recommendation of an independent arbiter on nurses' pay. Negotiation in good faith isn't exactly a skill of his is it! What ever happened to supply and demand?

demand already outstrips supply, but the greater the gap, the more money Twunt and his arse kissing cronies can make...

[Mr Larrington]

Torysaurus venerabilis Kenneth Clarke has weighed in with "the BMA are a bunch of bolshies", the great twatty.