Gordon Brown disgusts me

The news that Gordon Brown has responded to the Commons defence select committee's report by dismissing it does not surprise me. Gordon Brown is always right, he knows this to be true because he is always right.

The chairman of the cross-party committee, James Arbuthnot, said:

"Operational commanders in the field today are unable to undertake potentially valuable operations because of the lack of helicopters for transportation around the theatre of operations.... We are also concerned that operational commanders find they have to use ground transport, when helicopter lift would be preferred, both for the outcome and for the protection of our forces."

The BBC loyally print some analysis by Frank Gardner, their "security correspondent" to try and lessen the impact on Gordon Brown's credibility (or what's left of it):

"This report will certainly be unwelcome news for the government but it stops short of explicitly saying servicemen are dying in Afghanistan through a lack of helicopters. It does, though, level a number of serious criticisms which could only be addressed by spending a lot more money.

The cross-party committee of MPs that wrote it are rightly reluctant to get drawn into party politics over this issue.

But their most important finding - that operational commanders in the field are unable to undertake potentially valuable operations because of the lack of helicopters - will likely be seized upon by the government's critics.

Beyond Westminster, what the public are most likely to remember from this row is the fact that the head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, admitted to travelling round Afghanistan in an American helicopter because no British one was available."

Gordon Brown and most of his Labour party do not have enough regard for the UK's armed forces and so have underfunded them for years. It must be said that in addition the MOD procurement process is a joke. What must be remembered above all is that the people paying the price are not Gordon Brown and his cabal but the soldiers who are BEING BLOWN TO PIECES BECAUSE THEY DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT VEHICLES.