Tag: nvar-pvar

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Thatcher funeral to match theatre of Churchill’s – but differences are stark

By Sharon Black

While the pomp will be similar to 1965, the crowd reaction to this non-state event is unlikely to be as united It was, Patrick O’Donovan noted in the Observer , as if “the City was stopped and was turned into a theatre, and it was all performed as a drama that all men understand”. The funeral cortege moved slowly from the Palace of Westminster to St Paul’s cathedral, through packed streets lined with silent troops, “their heads bowed over their automatic rifles in ceremonious grief”.

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Anti-Trident campaigners blockade naval base

By Sharon Black

Protesters chain themselves to gates at Faslane after calling for Trident budget to fund welfare, education and health instead Police have arrested 47 people protesting outside a naval base where nuclear weapons are stored. Campaigners chained themselves to each other and blocked the entrance of the Faslane base in Argyll, home of the UK’s Trident nuclear weapons. The Scrap Trident coalition wants Scotland to be allowed to “lead the way to a world free of nuclear weapons” and more than 100 of its supporters demonstrated outside the base.

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Thatcher funeral’s military pomp raises concerns at Buckingham Palace

By Sharon Black

Questions raised over appropriateness of such a divisive figure being escorted on her final journey by military honours Ken Livingstone: throw out the myths about Margaret Thatcher Russell Brand: I always felt sorry for her children Gary Younge: the Iron Lady is dead but Thatcherism lives on Margaret Thatcher’s legacy: roundup of the best writing Buckingham Palace raised concerns about the ceremonial funeral with military honours for Lady Thatcher that is to be attended on Wednesday by the Queen and more than 2,000 guests including every surviving British prime minister, the Guardian understands. As invitations were sent out to world leaders, including all surviving US presidents and Hillary Clinton, it emerged that concerns were expressed at the highest levels about whether it is appropriate for such a controversial figure to be escorted on her final journey by more than 700 military personnel

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MPs fear Afghan civil war after troops leave

By Sharon Black

Commons committee criticises British government’s attitude towards Afghanistan as simply ‘hoping for the best’ Afghanistan could descend into civil war within a few years of British, US and other Nato troops ending their frontline role there at the end of 2014, the Commons cross-party defence committee warned on Wednesday. The committee suggested that the British government’s attitude towards Afghanistan was one of simply hoping for the best, since it would have little influence over the country’s future

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Margaret Thatcher made the north of Ireland a more bitterly divided place | Gerry Adams

By Sharon Black

Her government’s policies handed draconian military powers over to the securocrats, and subverted basic human rights Margaret Thatcher was a hugely divisive figure in British politics. And for the people of Ireland, and especially the north, the Thatcher years were among some of the worst of the conflict. Her policy decisions entrenched sectarian divisions, handed draconian military powers over to the securocrats, and subverted basic human rights

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Where’s the real threat here – Kim Jong-un or Trident? | Simon Jenkins

By Sharon Black

What we should be scared of is not the North Korean’s belicosity but how it’s being used to subvert domestic politics in the west The enemy is coming. Declare war, dive for Cobra , hide the silver, lock up your daughters. A grateful nation cheers on its leader and saviour, Kim Jong-Cam, as he races north to prepare his war machines for battle.

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Letters: The case for keeping Trident dwindles by the day

By Sharon Black

Ed Miliband is right to include defence in the current Labour party policy review, and Angela Smith and John Woodcock are out of order to suggest that the policy is settled ( Our deterrent is good value , 1 April). It’s about time the country had a defence policy based on the highest risks that we face

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Labour urged not to back downgrading of Trident

By Sharon Black

Labour frontbencher and former Gordon Brown aide say party would look ‘dangerously weak’ if it supported diluted deterrent As Labour embarks on an intense debate on the future of Trident, a former aide to Gordon Brown has joined forces with a frontbencher to declare that the party would look “dangerously weak” if it diluted Britain’s nuclear deterrent. John Woodcock, who served as the former prime minister’s spokesman, and Angela Smith, the shadow deputy leader of the Commons, issued their warning as senior figures in the party urge Ed Miliband to use a government review of Trident to support a smaller deterrent. But in a Guardian article Woodcock and Smith warn : “While the world has changed greatly since the 1980s, the political reality has not: we will appear dangerously weak as a future party of government if we are prepared to give up that insurance while the world remains so unstable.” The pro-Trident MPs express the hope that Miliband will resist pressure for Labour to change tack.

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Departing British find reasons for optimism in Afghanistan

By Sharon Black

Soldiers and civilians prepare to depart with qualified confidence that progress will continue under full Afghan control The Royal Marines don’t intend to make a fuss when they leave Afghanistan in the next few days; there will be a low-key ceremony at their headquarters in Helmand, and a lowering of the white ensign that has flown at their camp since last September.

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British dead and wounded in Afghanistan, month by month

By Sharon Black

What is the human cost of the war in Afghanistan for British forces? As British troop deaths reach 441, these are the latest figures – including the most recent wounded and amputation statistics • Get the data • Amputation statistics explainer • Afghanistan civilian casualties • Interactive guide With the latest deaths caused by the war in Afghanistan, the total number of British troop fatalities during the conflict now stands at 441. The number of British deaths in Afghanistan is now much higher than Iraq and even the Falklands conflict .

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UK search and rescue sell-off hits turbulence

By Sharon Black

Minister says Bristow will deliver first-class service but critics air doubts about US company’s takeover from RAF and navy The transfer of the UK’s search and rescue service from the military to a Texas-based helicopter company has been criticised by residents of coastal communities, politicians from all the main parties and rescue experts. From 2016 Bristow Helicopters, part of the global Bristow Group, will take over the helicopter search and rescue (SAR) service from the RAF and navy.

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1975: Sea King helicopter heralds new era in search and rescue

By Sharon Black

A chopper that was tasked for anti-submarine operations is now deployed ‘for the greater good’ In 1975, the sinking of the cargo ship the Lovat with the loss of 11 lives in rough seas off Penzance raised questions about the effectiveness of Whirlwind helicopters for use in sea rescues. The Guardian leader column below was published in the aftermath of the Lovat tragedy and echoed the growing call for the more powerful Sea King helicopters to be used instead.

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Search and rescue contract loss angers UK coastal residents

By Sharon Black

Concern and disappointment after government announces Texas-based search and rescue firm will replace RAF and navy The rescue at the weekend was typically swift and professional. An angler had been swept off the rocks at Trewarvas Point near Helston in Cornwall and, without help, would have been dead within minutes in the surging sea.

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Brian Hayman obituary

By Sharon Black

My father, Brian Hayman, who has died aged 86, was a gentle man for whom the expression “stiff upper lip” might have been invented. His business colleagues say he was disarmingly inscrutable

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Report criticises handling of armed forces complaints

By Sharon Black

Commissioner says complaints system in armed forces is too bureaucratic and should be simplified The way complaints by men and women in the armed forces about bullying, harassment, and discrimination are handled is ineffective, unfair and unacceptable, a report says. Dr Susan Atkins, the service complaints commissioner , castigates the way the system deals with cases concerning armed forces personnel

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Budget reality check: some grand-sounding claims – but do they stack up?

By Sharon Black

Guardian writers test the validity of some of the key assertions made by George Osborne in his budget speech “We’ve seen more people in work than ever before – including a record number of women. A quarter of a million fewer workless households than two years ago. And the unemployment rate is lower than when we came to office” Unemployment was at 7.8% of the workforce when the coalition was elected in May 2010 – and is back at that figure now

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Budget 2013: armed forces to benefit from fines on banks

By Sharon Black

George Osborne says funds will go towards Christmas boxes and mental health support Britain’s armed forces are to benefit from the multimillion-pound fines imposed on banks in the wake of the Libor-rigging scandal. George Osborne said an unspecified amount of funds from the £300m windfall would go towards boxes of Christmas gifts for troops serving abroad for the next two years as well as to help veterans with mental health issues via the charity Combat Stress. The chancellor said: “Those who have paid fines in our financial sector because they demonstrated the very worst values are paying to support those in our armed forces who demonstrate the very best of British values.” Osborne made clear last year that he did not want the profit from any fines being used by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to reduce the fees that City firms are charged each year for regulation

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Iraq war: make it impossible to inflict such barbarism again | Seumas Milne

By Sharon Black

The US and Britain not only bathed Iraq in blood, they promoted a sectarian war that now threatens the region If anyone doubted what kind of Iraq has been bequeathed by a decade of US-sponsored occupation and war, today’s deadly sectarian bomb attacks around Baghdad against bus queues and markets should have set them straight. Ten years to the day after American and British troops launched an unprovoked attack on a false pretext – and more than a year since the last combat troops were withdrawn – the conflict they unleashed shows no sign of winding down. Civilians are still being killed at a rate of at least 4,000 a year, and police at about 1,000.

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Iraq: guilt by association

By Sharon Black

• failure to speak truth to power • mistakes repeated in Afghanistan Ten years ago today, thousands of British troops joined the US and invaded Iraq. They were unprepared and ill-equipped because their political masters did not want to alert parliament or the public in advance that Britain was about to embark on an unpopular and – as the most senior government lawyers warned, illegal – war. Thousands of words have been written and spoken to mark the tenth anniversary of the invasion.

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General Sir Nick Houghton to be new chief of defence staff

By Sharon Black

Army commander with reputation as ‘Whitehall warrior’ to take key role amid ongoing deep cuts to armed forces A battle-hardened army commander who has recently earned a reputation as a “Whitehall warrior” is expected to be named on Tuesday as the new chief of defence staff at a time when the armed forces are continuing a painful and prolonged period of cuts.

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‘Iraq is always with you’: a veteran’s memories of the war

By Sharon Black

As a British lieutenant during the war in Iraq, James Jeffrey went there with a sense of optimism. Ten years on, he explains why he feels ashamed about how we failed the people there All the commentary surrounding the Iraq invasion 10 years on encourages retrospection but I think most veterans, like me, would agree that talk of anniversaries makes scant difference

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Al-Sweady inquiry hears father’s allegations of torture by British troops

By Sharon Black

The first witness to give evidence alleges marks of torture on his son’s body, but the claims are dismissed by the inquiry QC The father of an Iraqi teenager who was allegedly murdered by British soldiers has described injuries on his son’s body as a bullet wound in the neck, a fractured right jaw, bruises to the chest, and marks around the neck “resembling a necklace”. Injuries to other Iraqis included “bodies distorted and mutiliated, eyes missing, tongues cut out, and noses cut off”, he told a public inquiry on Monday.