The Labour Government

[metalblue]

We know they’ve committed upping spending to 2.5% and are doing the strategic review.

We won’t get the detail until they’ve done that, which I agree with. The question then though is when are they going to complete it as the sooner the better.

They’ve committed to upping spending to 2.5% at a time TBC. It’s word soup until they commit to a date.

 

[meltonblue]

It doesn’t say that at all though. So far it’s just more cuts.

The statement said the savings were being retained in full in the defence budget, so it’s there for reinvestment. Thats why I was asking when the strategic review was planned to be completed.

 

[Churchlawtonblue]

View attachment 138546

Not sure which sector I’d like to see cuts to rather than further investment tbh. Personally I’d argue the transference of wealth we should all be more concerned about is still to the rich rather than to the government, the wealth disparity continues to grow.

Not sure those figures are correct? I thought we spent just over 2% of GDP on defence not 6 as it states there.

 

[Churchlawtonblue]

They’ve committed to upping spending to 2.5% at a time TBC. It’s word soup until they commit to a date.

That's not a commitment to anyone's ears, other than those that say the words. Just nonsense political speak.

 

[meltonblue]

They’ve committed to upping spending to 2.5% at a time TBC. It’s word soup until they commit to a date.

Which is why I said they were doing the strategic review, that’s to give the roadmap to get to the 2.5%. Collectively it’s not word soup at all.

 

[The Future’s Blue!]

The statement said the savings were being retained in full in the defence budget, so it’s there for reinvestment. Thats why I was asking when the strategic review was planned to be completed.

Defence is a mess, literally. People preaching for political gain don’t understand the situation on the ground and will argue anything other than the truth.

Let’s face it, we, as a country, are in shit state and it seems nobody wants to fund it for the future good of our people. You only have to look on here for that. Fuck, some are even leaving the country after they’ve made their money from it.

Pitiful.

 

[hilts]

It's been a rise in pensions of £36 a week over the last two years so (cynically maybe) withdrawing £6 a week now should have been less outrageous than against a £9 a week rise next year.

If we accept that UK pensions are low compared to most other European countries, the triple lock has improved that position. And the "relative" figure that isn't being mentioned is that the number of pensioners keeps getting higher relative to the number of people paying tax to fund their pensions.

As it does in most EU countries where the pensions are better.

 

[meltonblue]

Not sure those figures are correct? I thought we spent just over 2% of GDP on defence not 6 as it states there.

Its percentage of government spending per department, not of GDP.

 

[mosssideblue]

According to Google the below is Royal Navy Pay

Ratings
Starting salary of £16,235 during basic training, rising to £20,000 after 26 weeks. Salaries increase with rank, reaching:
Able Rating – £20,000
Leading Rating – £32,796
Petty Officer – £37,061
Warrant Officer – £50,838
Apprentices
Average yearly pay of approximately £23,913.
Officers
Starting salary of £27,272 a year when joining Britannia Royal Navy College, rising to £32,780 a year after training and experience
Warfare Officer (Submariner)
Starting salary of over £25,200, with a potential salary of over £62,073.

Anyone else on here think the above starting salaries are especially woeful and maybe just maybe part of the reason why people aren't joining the navy? Perhaps if they offered more than the National Living wage they might get some recruits.

Aldi are paying 19k to 23k a year for new starters and I would suggest its hardly a comparable job responsibility or commitment wise ?

Wouldn’t believe those figures too much. You have to remember though that service pay is all found

 

[Churchlawtonblue]

The statement said the savings were being retained in full in the defence budget, so it’s there for reinvestment. Thats why I was asking when the strategic review was planned to be completed.

17m a year saving per ship against the loss of that potential capability. Whoopee doo. Just for context this year the UK spent 15m a day on Assylum seekers.