[johnm]

We could offer Scotland to Spain if they'd stop whinging about Gibraltar. It's bigger and it has Nicola Sturgeon and Billy Connolly.

Rob P

and it provides much of their seafood too, so they'll get tariff benefits, though we might lose some exports

[matthew_w100]

Wait, what? We need that money for the roads here in Wales.

Tough. The bus said NHS.

[Paul_Sengupta]

Ah, it didn't say *all* the money was going to the NHS. It just said "Let's fund our NHS instead."

But if we're in direct competition with Cornwall for the rest...

[GAFlyer4Fun]

Last time I checked, Cornwall is a county and Wales is a country, so not exactly comparing apples with apples.... or cakes with cakes!

p.s. we need the money for roads in England as well. They reckon they wont be fit for purpose it 5 yrs and then how are we supposed to get to work to earn the flying tokens...

[GAFlyer4Fun]

...
Plenty of carrier borne combat aircraft at Davis-Monthan AFB; probably including a few Harriers, after all, they bought most of our 'redundant' ones.

A lot of the US aircraft are getting lifed earlier than originally planned due to the US getting involved with extra wars that were not budgeted for. They are robbing parts from some jets to keep others serviceable. Those are some of the reasons why the US production lines have been extended for jets like the F18 where it was previously planned to end the production line when the planned number of jets had been delivered.

We are often told not to put all our eggs in one basket. Should have made the new carriers compatible with the F18 Super Hornet or even the navalised Rafale as well as F35. I guess we will find out one day as there is always a war going on somewhere on the planet. (Some of our pilots fly other Nato jets anyway on exchange tours so that familiarity helps the training budget).

Too many Nato countries hope the US will bale them out of a military battle.
Trump has bluntly (as usual) said other Nato countries need to pay their fair share of the costs if they want the US to help out. One day the US will say no .... and even more likely under Trump.

It all comes down to money... spending building up UK industries to create the military kit... spend it on sorting out the roads.... spend it on the health service.... hmmm that age old problem of not enough money for everything. Need to get those big multi-national corporations to pay more tax in the UK instead of playing the offshoring game (also at the expense of UK jobs that have been off-shored).

[matthew_w100]

Ah, it didn't say *all* the money was going to the NHS. It just said "Let's fund our NHS instead."

But if we're in direct competition with Cornwall for the rest...

What "rest"?

[GolfHotel]

Ah, it didn't say *all* the money was going to the NHS. It just said "Let's fund our NHS instead."

But if we're in direct competition with Cornwall for the rest...

What "rest"?

The rest of the overdraft. There's plenty more of that available.

[OCB]

Hate to be the incessant rationalist - percentage of GDP is an idiotic metric. Belgium spends a large part of its commitment on pensions ffs.

I daily see troops in no fit condition on the streets of Brussels - who fully expected to never put a uniform on again.

Better the metric was more capability oriented. Huge incentive then to deliver something that in theory worked (within budget and on time)

Wtf do I know...


As for Gib.

Britain should mention that on the map, Portugal looks very much like a part of Spain. Then retreat to a safe distance....

[GolfHotel]

.....
As for Gib.

Britain should mention that on the map, Portugal looks very much like a part of Spain. Then retreat to a safe distance....

But if we carve the Basque's off Espania ......

[chevvron]

.....
As for Gib.

Britain should mention that on the map, Portugal looks very much like a part of Spain. Then retreat to a safe distance....

But if we carve the Basque's off Espania ......

If you've been to Barcelona recently to visit the Camp Nou , you'd have found the Catalonians have similar desires to the basques.
(Cue pictures of female underwear )

[OCB]

.....
As for Gib.

Britain should mention that on the map, Portugal looks very much like a part of Spain. Then retreat to a safe distance....

But if we carve the Basque's off Espania ......

"We" don't.
That's the point.
Portugal is as much a part of the landmass as Gib.

The Basque nationalists have a very strong case imho. Even up to the point where parts of southern France become part of a new Basque Country.

I admit I was a sad sack. I went to the library. I read books. I talked with older folks, some who had fought in the Spanish civil war, many who had fought in WWI or wwii or Korea and Vietnam.

I came to basic conclusion. Fighting over borders should have stopped after WWII and the advent of the UN not long after. Fine tuning could continue, but the act of changing borders based on force is the root cause of many conflicts. Ban it outright. No excuse.

[chevvron]

Indeed, yes, but I was adding in a bit more info!

OK a bit more info.
Many of the GR9s were 'attrition batch' ie stored and never used operationally; delivery mileage only.
Second thoughts added 9 Apr; were the GR9s uprgraded from GR7s or were they new builds?