Military Resettlement, Business, Training & Recruitment
A full military dress rehearsal for the ceremonial funeral procession for the late former prime minister Margaret Thatcher took place early on Monday in London
UN report reveals rapid growth of poppy farming as western troops get ready to withdraw, which reflects badly on Britain Twelve years after the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan is heading for a near-record opium crop as instability pushes up the amount of land planted with illegal but lucrative poppies, according to a bleak UN report. The rapid growth of poppy farming as western troops head home reflects particularly badly on Britain, which was designated “lead nation” for counter-narcotics work over a decade ago
From the economy to women’s fashion, no PM in living memory has had such far-reaching influence on the social landscape 1 Transforming the City of London Until the late 1970s, the Square Mile was a genteel all-male club dominated by pinstripe suits, public school accents and a culture of long lunches. Money was made at the Stock Exchange with effortless panache, as a coterie of licensed dealers acted on behalf of stockbroker firms with redolent names such as Quilter and Co. The Big Bang blew the ancien regime apart
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
Afghans will determine their own fate, says defence secretary, as MPs warns country could descend into civil war within years The defence secretary has admitted that no one can predict what will happen to Afghanistan after British, US and other Nato troops end their frontline role there at the end of 2014, and stressed that only the Afghan people can find a lasting solution to the country’s violence, corruption and lawlessness. Philip Hammond’s remarks came as the Commons cross-party defence committee warned that Afghanistan could descend into civil war within a few years and suggests that the British government’s attitude towards the country is one of simply hoping for the best. Hammond told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the UK had intervened in Afghanistan to protect its national security and had never intended to stay for a protracted period
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
In open letter, senior figures including Mike Jackson and Lord Ashdown, critical of ‘shameful’ UK stance Britain has a “moral obligation” to help Afghan interpreters who are in danger of being abandoned and hunted down by the Taliban, senior political and military figures have said. In an open letter, the high-profile names, including former chief of the general staff, Sir Mike Jackson, and Lord Ashdown, said it is shameful that Britain is the only Nato country yet to provide Afghan interpreters with asylum.
Calls for benefit reform in the wake of Philpott’s conviction for manslaughter are predictable but troubling. Can one man’s sick psyche really be a political issue? It’s fairly predictable that Mick Philpott’s extreme perversity and
Second world war physician invent new surgical techniques to rebuild faces left unrecognisable by burns from combat The design for a unique memorial honouring the pioneering plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe, the hundreds of second world war air crew whom he rescued from despair, and the town of East Grinstead that was a crucial part of their rehabilitation, will be unveiled in the town on Friday. The project has been acutely personal for its sculptor, Martin Jennings.
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.
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
The Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service become one, ending an old rivalry The Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service, become one, and an old rivalry is ended in a single identity of uniform.
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.
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.
‘We will not let them fail,’ says British commander, before local troops take lead role in fighting Taliban insurgency British commanders have warned that the war against the Taliban is entering its most critical phase as Afghanistan’s security forces prepare to fight the insurgency on their own for the first time without Nato troops alongside them on the frontline. President Hamid Karzai is expected to announce that the Afghan army and police will shortly take the lead in combat operations across the whole of Afghanistan, and senior officers interviewed by the Guardian said the next six months – known as the “fighting season” – would show if the bold strategy had paid off
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 .
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.
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.
One of the injured soldiers is airlifted to Camp Bastion after blast and gun battle in which five insurgents are killed At least 10 British troops have been injured in a suspected suicide car bomb attack on a patrol base in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. The insurgents followed up the blast with small arms fire on the base in Nad Ali, one of the districts where UK troops have been based during their time in the country. Five insurgents were killed in the attack on the base on Monday night, which is jointly operated by the Afghan army and troops from Nato’s International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf).
• 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.
Ed Miliband’s calls for Trident to be scaled back bring Labour into line with the Lib Dems – and public opinion, at last It’s almost three years since Nick Clegg made Trident a general election issue. He used the much-trumpeted televised leadership debates to outline a distinctive policy: no like-for-like replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons system.
Former chief of defence staff Lord Guthrie criticises Bush administration but says Blair government must also share blame The way Britain was led into war with Iraq 10 years ago was “wholly irresponsible” and the lack of intelligence on the country a national disgrace, senior military figures have told the Guardian. Though they direct their fire principally at the Bush administration, they make clear the Blair government must share a lot of the blame. “It was absolutely irresponsible to go in without thinking of the consequences”, said Lord Guthrie, former chief of defence staff and head of the army.
The chancellor says on Sunday British government workers and military serving in Cyprus and will be compensated for the levy on savings introduced in the country
George Osborne says military personnel and civil servants in Cyprus facing levy on savings will be compensated The government is to protect the savings of British military personnel and civil servants in Cyprus who were facing the prospect of a levy as part of the €10bn (£8.7bn) eurozone bailout on the Mediterranean island, George Osborne has announced.
Philip Hammond rubbishes proposals for Scottish defence force, saying officers would miss opportunities of British military Alex Salmond’s government has been accused of offering “woefully thin” and “juvenile” proposals for an independent Scottish military by the defence secretary, Philip Hammond.
Court of appeal orders retrial after sergeant’s lawyers argue he was put under pressure to plead guilty An SAS sniper has had his convictions for illegally possessing a pistol and ammunition quashed by the court of appeal. Danny Nightingale, 38, of Crewe, Cheshire, had been sentenced to 18 months’ military detention by a judge sitting in a military court in November 2012 after admitting he should not have stored a Glock 9mm pistol and more than 300 rounds of ammunition at his army lodgings.
Lawyer for Sergeant Danny Nightingale says he was put under ‘undue pressure’ to plead guilty at military court An SAS sniper jailed for illegally possessing a pistol and ammunition has tried to persuade the court of appeal to overturn his convictions. Sergeant Danny Nightingale, of Crewe, Cheshire, was sentenced to 18 months’ military detention by a judge sitting in a military court in early November after admitting illegally possessing a Glock 9mm pistol and more than 300 rounds of ammunition. The court of appeal concluded in late November that the sentence was too harsh.
In the first of a three-part series marking the 10th anniversary of the invasion, an army officer tells how he lost his marriage, his career and, for a while, his mind through PTSD Captain Edward Bland left Iraq on an emergency flight in July 2006, airlifted out of the country on a “casualty evacuation” military plane that took off from the Shaibah base, where he had been treated in hospital for a week. His thoughts were scrambled that hot morning as the RAF C-17 arced into the sky. He knew he would not return to combat, and he knew his career in the army, which had been so promising, was over