| McClaren 'an option for England' Steve McClaren could once again manage England, the FA's director of football development Trevor Brooking claims. news.bbc.co.uk |
Video: Browne review findings: 'The majority of students are going to struggle' The president of Birmingham University Guild of Students responds to the recommendation that the cap on student fees should be lifted guardian.co.uk |
Navy needs protecting to protect us all | John Muxworthy Any gap in maintaining at least two aircraft carriers to safeguard our fleet and ground forces will leave the UK vulnerable"It is upon the Navy under the providence of God that the safety, honour and welfare of this realm do chiefly attend."This quotation is carved in stone over the now threatened Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth. Nothing has changed since Charles II had those words printed in his Articles of War. It is as true today as it was when written more than 300 years ago. However, from what we already know about the results of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, the UK seems to have forgotten that declaration.Today the Royal Navy is in danger of losing its main capability: that of being able to project such national power and authority that we have left to us β which is still considerable β wherever and whenever we chose to do so. "Talk softly, but have a big stick." For centuries the navy has been the "big stick" that won us the greatest empire the world has ever seen β or ever will see again. This country is avowedly the seventh richest in the world, and is still greatly respected by many nations. However, we have sat on our laurels and for half a century since the end of the second world war we have been steadily disarming. By its end this country was spending 60% of its gross national product on the war which, Winston Churchill always maintained, could have been avoided had he been listened to in the early 1930s β the time of the great depression. We are now in almost precisely the same situation, and we should learn from history. For more than 20 years we have cut the budget for our armed forces year on year and poured the savings into the now bloated budgets of health, education and welfare that have seen increases of anything from 150% to 400%. At the same time the defence budget has been the sacrificial cow reduced by the same amount. We now invest barely 2p in every Β£1 of the nation's GNP. We have a massive deficit (depression) yet we are still disarming. Our plea is stop it before we are weakened beyond redemption.Aircraft carriers are the biggest, most capable "stick" that any navy worth its salt must have. Without an aircraft carrier and the aircraft it carries the rest of the fleet is vulnerable whenever it is out of range of land-based RAF (or allied) aircraft. An aircraft carrier can travel anywhere in the world where there is a sea β which is more than 65% of this Earth. It is a travelling potent arm of the UK projecting power where and whenever required. It can stand off over the horizon, but ready to strike or protect our landing forces as required. Any navy worth its salt β and this nation is entirely dependent on the sea for its food and fuel supplies β needs at least two carriers to ensure that, at any time, one might well be available to deal with any contingency. We still have two smallish aircraft carriers β HMS Illustrious and HMS Ark Royal β with one of them always operational while the other is undergoing refit or in training. These two ships were supposed to be retained and avoid any gap before the first of our new large carriers, whose construction has today been safeguarded, are completed between 2016 and 2020. Now they are to be discarded, and the Harrier aircraft that occasionally still operate from them, withdrawn. There will thus be an air gap over the fleet (soon to be so small as to only merit the title of a flotilla) that will endure at least until 2016 β and almost certainly beyond. Any capability discarded as we are about to do cannot be revived and replaced willy nilly. Once it is taken away, it is lost for ever. We are a maritime dependent nation β yet we are decimating our navy and crippling our capability to operate protective aircraft over our ships and our men and women ashore. "Defence of the realm is the first priority of government" β so says our prime minister. Well, sir, you have a funny way of showing it.Defence policyMilitaryJohn Muxworthyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Nuclear submarine returns to base A nuclear-powered submarine which ran aground off the isle of Skye returns to its base at Faslane on the Clyde. bbc.co.uk |
Smitten student bets Β£100 on staying with girlfriend Christopher Brooker takes odds of 6-1 in bet that he will still be with Hannah Grayson at graduation in two years' timeA lovestruck student has found a novel way of declaring his commitment to his girlfriend: staking part of his grant on their still being together at graduation in two years' time.Spurning the world of pre-nups and similar legal tie-ins, Christopher Brooker staked Β£100 with bookies in Durham as a declaration of faith.His defiance of odds of 6-1 came after a talk with Hannah Grayson, 19, a fellow philosophy second-year at the University of Durham."We were sitting on the sofa one afternoon, talking about how difficult it is for students to make commitments to each other," he said. "We spend so much time studying along with extra-curricular activities."Brooker, who is 22 and from Dudley, in the Black Country, said the betting idea came to him "then and there". He went to William Hill after talking to a betting specialist, Joe Crilly, about the equivalent of racehorse form β the time he and Hannah have to spend apart because of other commitments."Hannah lived in the flat above me in our first year and we were on the same course," he said. "We became friends at first, then romance blossomed. I didn't tell her about the bet until I had finalised the details. Then I had to, because I wouldn't have been able to do it without her."Grayson, who is from Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, said: "I actually thought it was a really lovely gesture. It was so touching of him to say that he still wanted to be with me at graduation. I think we are doing quite well at the moment."Crilly said he was impressed by the devotion behind the bet, whose odds took into account time-juggling to make room for studying, tennis, sleeping and other traditional undergraduate activities. He said: "Christopher has taken the ultimate student sacrifice β spending the equivalent of seven cases of beer on a long-term commitment to his girlfriend."Brooker will win the equivalent of 42 cases if love wins the day, but he was properly gallant about that. He said: "Hannah means more to me than all the money in the world." And Β£600 would be handy for a memorable joint degree celebration.RelationshipsStudentsDurham UniversityStudent financeMartin Wainwrightguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |