Thursday, 31 August 2023

UK: In the midst of a crisis, Britain replaces Defence Secretary

In the midst of crisis, a man with a solid military career and proven record is out and a man with little or no knowledge of military matters steps in. Just a few weeks ago when there was talk about a new NATO Secretary General, the then British Secretary for Defense Ben Wallace MP was rejected outright by President Joe Biden that vetoed him pushing him out of the selection process for NATO Secretary General even before the process started.

At this point, a exchange of words between Ben Wallace and Volodomir Zelensky was made public. Ben Wallace told the Ukrainian President that 'Britain is no Amazon'. Not many hours passed when Ben Wallace himself stated that if there was a reshuffle he would not remain as member of the Cabinet and that he would not be standing for re-election at the next General Election. Now, as the reshuffle went ahead, Ben Wallace resigned to be replaced by Grant Shapps, a man with no military career, no rapport within the military and little knowledge of what being Secretary for Defense implies.  

Grant Shapps

And all this is happening, when US nuclear weapons are returning to the United Kingdom to be placed in various RAF locations and work is well underway since the Pentagon was given the monies for such a huge and dangerous endeavour. Let us remember that the American government has now less overseeing of where the monies go and that budget controls have been 'relaxed'. In the military there is an expression: fire at will. 


Ben Wallace





Ben Wallace is not a 'Yes' man. Perhaps this was the reason for his demise. Grant Shapps might be more maleable. There is another English expression: 'Ignorance is bliss'. Don't see, don't talk, don't listen. If the situation gets worse on the battefront, the present British govenrment will find itself with more that it can chew. The British Armed Forces are literally no existing. For decades, they have been downgraded both in terms of equipment and of manpower. A politician might end up asking the Armed Forces to do more than they can actually do and Britain as whole will be in jeopardy.
























No comments:

Post a Comment