Re: Britain Green By 2030
Originally Posted by
swimfeeders
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Hi
The British disease.
We are a minor player in the World now.
We should accept that and spend our money on looking after our own.
We have spent a fortune on two aircraft carriers which will last less than an hour if push comes to shove.
A pure vanity project.
Money which would have been much better spent on a fleet of inshore ships stopping the illegals coming here and protecting our Fisheries.
Exactly.
Aircraft carriers' sole purpose is power projection away from our shores. The Falklands war was a prime example of when they were really needed (just before our government scrapped them!), but such a situation is unlikely to happen again now that we have based a sufficiently strong air and land component on those islands for their effective defence. Other overseas territories are either a lot closer (eg, Gibraltar) or highly unlikely to be attacked by a foreign power.
All we need now is an efficient and effective force to protect our homeland and, of course, its waters. Aircraft carriers are surplus to requirements. The RAF is capable of home defence if push comes to shove and can be an effective force to any distance necessary for our own defence. The Army, having now been decimated, is probably still sufficient to defend us against any attack on our shores.
We must accept that we are no longer a world power capable of extending our assets to far-flung places. The defence of our island is all we should concern ourselves with now. As long as we have the means to do that effectively, we need fear no enemy incursion including into our legal sea territories. As you say, we need to ensure an effective force of ships to defend our North Sea area.