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July 08, 2004
Defence of the Realm
FROM THE GRAY MONK:
Oh dear. Our Illustrious Leader has egg on his face, his trousers, and everywhere else on his anatomy. His government has consistently revised defence spending downwards since taking office in 1997, and now the cat is, as they say, loose in his pigeon loft. The latest Defence Review (there has been one every year since this shower of ignoramuses took office) is proposing the axing of a very large number of frontline troops, the retirement of almost our entire air force fleet of aircraft, the laying up or scrapping of almost half our fighting ships, and the closure of even more bases than ever before. Why? Because they have overspent on almost every project, the war in Iraq, and on the "modernisation" and "equality" policies these loonies are foisting upon everyone.
But wait a moment, who precisely is "managing" these overspent projects? Colonel Blimp and his band of Hoorah Henry's in uniform? No, dear reader, it's none other than the faceless and bomb-proof wonders of Whitehall - the ubiquitous Sir Humphreys of the Civil Service. It is their incompetence that is at the root of all this disaster, it must be said, ably supported by the most incompetent and ignorant Cabinet in the history of these isles. Figures released yesterday show that the Ministry of Defence employs 102,000 soldiers, and 102,600 civil servants. Guess where the cuts are proposed to fall? Right, it isn't among the papershuffler Brigade.
The Customs and Excise and Inland Revenue now employ between them more Tax Collectors than the total manpower in the Navy and the Airforce, yet the Civil Service is growing at a rate of 511 new civil servants per week! This is an increase on last year's 444 new civil servants a week which saw the "service" grow to 5.6 million. Other statistics on this are equally frightening - the Health Service appoints three new managers for each new nurse OR doctor appointed. No wonder the waiting lists keep growing; the money isn't there for research or for proper treatment, and the elderly are left to die rather than spend money treating them.
This situation costs every household in Britain £850 a year and and that cost is growing. The simple fact that there are now more bureaucrats and inspectors in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Rural Affairs than there are farmers should be sounding off alarm bells everywhere. This is what is costing this country growth (the Chancellor confuses burgeoning bureaucracy with economic growth - more bureaucrats = more paperwork = more jobs = equals growing economy?) and is killing enterprise. They simply can't help themselves. In order to justify all these extra taxguzzlers they have to pass more legislation which in turn creates more inspectors, which in turn consumes more resources, which ......
Belatedly, Blair and his poodles have realised that they have dug themselves into one very large hole and are now proclaiming that they are going to increase defence budgets. Really? The Treasury spokesman gives the lie to this, saying all the principle plans are now settled, the cuts will happen.
Government needs to be cut back. It needs to be answerable; it needs to be small and confined to the regulation of those matters which promote stability, safety, growth, and the well-being of its citizens. This government has failed on all counts. It has undermined the State with its pursuit of honours in Europe, it has all but destroyed the armed forces, it has undermined the Justice system, and it has irreparably damaged the concept of democracy in this country. The Civil Service, created with the best of intentions by Gladstone in the 19th Century, has become a ravening monster which is now so powerful that it is a political force in its own right. Worse, it is answerable to no one and cannot be thrown out - its elite are untouchable and protected from the fallout of their incompetence.
If this situation is not addressed soon, if this government is allowed to continue destroying everything it fails to understand, if the civil service is permitted to grow unchecked, democracy will not be the only casualty - the entire economy will collapse. No country can support the sort of "public sector" now being built in this one; it is simply ridiculous to expect the taxpayers to continue funding these armies of useless and non-productive taxguzzlers, and the economy cannot afford it. The true cost of all this government is not revealed, there are constant attempts to hide it, to obfusticate the issue. Instead our Queen and her family are forced to endure the annual torrent of abuse over "the exhorbitant cost" of the Monarchy. At 61p per household, a bargain against the cost of the parasites at No 10 - £3.20 per week per household!
Since taking office this corrupt and indecent party has increased spending on the promotion of their policies by over 1000% - enough to pay an entire battalion of fighting troops for two and a half years at current wages. The Cabinet Office alone spend in a year on taxi fares - that's right - taxi fares - enough to pay the salaries of around 10 doctors or 30 nurses for a year!
Defence of the realm? No chance; we had better all start taking lessons in the use of the long bow, the pike, and the sword - it's all we can afford with this army of parasites on our backs!
TGM
Posted by The Gray Monk at July 8, 2004 10:30 AM