The next election is still a long way from being won.  We cannot be complacent.  But it is interesting to start reflecting, should the Conservatives win, what Gordon Brown’s legacy will be.  What has he achieved?  How will history judge him?

All big questions.  Historians would say it is too early to judge as Prime Minister’s have to be viewed after a passage of time.  But there is no harm looking at what Gordon will potentially bequeath an incoming Conservative Administration.

So let’s do this succinctly and look at the major policy areas.

Economy

- Britain is in a deep recession.  It has been savage.  Brown claims this is due to Global economic shocks but the IMF has stated in their most recent report:  ‘Imbalances and balance sheet strains had emerged even before the recent global shocks triggered a sharp decline in economic activity’.  ie we were heading into recession BEFORE the Global shocks took place. 

- Changes made by Gordon Brown, as Chancellor, to the way banks regulated, widely credited for the severest banking crisis in the history of the UK.

- Unemployment of nearly 3 million, (official figures), (in reality closer to 6 million).

- Unprecedented National Debt of £2.2 trillion – just under 150pc of gross domestic product. This would be the worst debt total since the 1950s, when Britain was in the process of paying back its war debts.

- Bailing out a banking system.  Cost of the bailouts - broken down. Total: £904bn or 63% of GDP. A few highlights:

Northern Rock — £14.6bn.
Bradford & Bingley — £24bn
Kaupthing Singer & Friedlaender — £3.3bn
Landsbanki — £4.5bn
Heritable — £500m
Dunfermline — £1.6bn
All bank recapitalisation — £78.1bn
Credit Guarantee Scheme — £250bn
Working Capital Scheme — £11.5bn
Asset-Backed Securities Guarantee Scheme — £50bn
Asset Protection Scheme — £466bn

TOTAL TAXPAYER EXPOSURE: £904bn or 63% of GDP.

- UK Households severely in debt.  In the run-up to the crisis household debt increased to 175 percent of disposable income—one of the highest levels among advanced countries

- House prices have dropped by more than 20 percent from their peak and commercial real estate prices are down by 40 percent.

- Endemic Fraud.  HM Customs and Excise looks odds on to miss its stated target of reducing fraud and error to 5% by 2011.  It has been revealed that mistakes had risen to 8.6%, (from 7.8), in 2007 – 08, which are the latest figures available. This means that fraud and errors in the tax credit system cost £2 billion last year, which amounts to £1 in every £10 paid out.

- Falling tax receipts… Tax receipts have fallen by £32 billion according to the National Audit Office.  This includes a £6.4 billion drop in VAT income following Alastair Darling’s decision to cut the rate to 15% last November. 

- The policies that Brown has employed no-one knows if they are working.  The IMF cannot make any judgement on the effects of Quantative easing.  Is it working?  Has it had any effect?  Who knows?  The IMF don’t

- Lack of support for Small Business.  Claim:  This Government has offered more support to small businesses in the recession. Reality:  Official statistics show that it has guaranteed fewer loans in the year to march 31st. Businesses received 2,360 loan guarantees worth £177.8m under the Small Firms Loan Guarantee (SFLG) scheme and its successor the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme, launched by Peter Mandolsen. Please remember…….This was a central plank in the Governments economic strategy for the recession. But this total, which includes loans approved before April 3rd is significantly less than the £205 guaranteed in the previous year, (taken from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills report). This is also far below the scheme’s £360m budget set by the Government in March 2008, which was raised to £1.3bn in January.  This lack of lending under the schemes runs contrary to the banks’ pledges to make more use of the SFLG and EFG schemes.

Defence & Afghanistan

- An ongoing war, with no end date in sight.  No clear, measurable, objectives.

- A British Army with insufficient resources, including manpower and equipment eg helicopters.

- 207 dead soldiers and rising

- With a stated aim of helping democracy Helmand’s province, a region with a potential electorate of 80,000 voters….only 150 voted.  That’s a turnout of 0.18% .

 A dis-United Kingdom

- Between 1998 and 2003, for example, economic growth across different local areas of the UK ranged between the drastic extremes of minus 1.2 per cent and 9.6 per cent, expanding the gulf between the poorest and the most prosperous. These marked trends have persisted through the rest of the decade, further aggravating the national divide. The latest data for the 12 principal regions of the country show that total GDP growth from 2004 to 2007 ranged between 13 per cent in the West Midlands and in Wales to more than 20 per cent in London. The divergences of performance become ever greater, too, as one considers smaller localities. The consequence is that the gap between the standard of living in the most affluent parts of the nation and its poorest areas is now wider in Britain than in any other developed economy.

Politics

- Politicians with no respect and distrusted by the electorate following the expenses scandal.

- Brown’s team closely associated with the politics of smear and lying, the Damien McBride affair typifying the lows of Brown’s closest aides.

- Lack of Leadership.  Ducks the big issues eg whether he agreed with Megrahi release

Education

- 50,000 A-level students will miss out on a place at university.  This year 52,000 more people applied to University but only 13,000 extra places were made available.

- The number of young people not in employment, education or training (Neet) has leapt by more than 100,000 in the past year.  Government statistics show there are now almost 960,000 16- to 24-year-old Neets in England, more than 230,000 of whom are aged between 16 and 18. 

Welfare dependency

- NEARLY two-thirds of council housing tenants get all their rent paid by the taxpayer.  dip their hands in their pocket to pay a total of £10billion a year.  That is the equivalent of £476 every year for every privately-owned home in Britain.  How do you feel paying £476 of your money to this cause?

 Health

- A society ill prepared for Swine Flu.  Call centres manned by non medical professionals prescribing Tamiflu to everyone that calls.  Children advised not to take Tamiflu.  Vaccine in full production but untried and untested.

- Almost 1 in 4 adults in England are currently obese, and if we carry on as we are by 2050, 9 in 10 adults will be overweight or obese.  Did you know about 46% of men in England and 32% of women are overweight (a body mass index of 25-30 kg/m2), and an additional 17% of men and 21% of women are obese (a body mass index of more than 30 kg/m2 ).  The cost of overweight and obese individuals to the NHS is estimated to be £4.2 billion and is forecasted to more than double by 2050. The cost to the wider economy is £16 billion, and this is predicted to rise to £50 billion per year by 2050 if left unchecked

- Britain has the worst cancer survival rate in Western Europe.

Immigration

- MigrationWatch UK has provided an estimate that the population of the UK, (which is already the most overcrowded country in Europe), will hit………a massive 70 million in the next 20 years, (whoever is in power). Yes that is 9 million more than today.

- Keith Vaz, Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee has announced that tens of thousands of illegal immigrants have entered Britain posing as students at bogus colleges and coupled with this the Government is doing nothing to track them down.

Going Green

- Going Green ….at a cost and massive debt.  It is reported that Britain faces a bill of up to £1.2 trillion to meet the agreed target set by G8 nations to cut carbon dioxide emissions in each country by 80% by 2050. This is made up of £600bn from the estimated cost of making all transport low-carbon by switching to electric or furl efficient vehicles.  £350bn which is the estimated cost of moving the majority of industrial and domestic energy needs to low carbon electricity. £250bn estimated cost of moving all heating from gas boilers to low carbon equivalent.

I could go on…and on…..please let me know what you would add to this.

Not a great legacy Gordon.  How can you sleep at night?

First up our Troops are magnificent.  The honour they bring to this nation is immense.  Brave, loyal…we owe them so much.  That is why we need to help the troops and question the Government.  Whatever one thinks of the merits of this campaign we should do all we can to help support our troops.  Hence this blog has been very critical on the strategy employed during the campaign and also the lack of equipment & support we provide our troops to get the job done.

Bob Ainsworth made it VERY clear that THEaim of Panther’s Claw, the military campaign which saw British forces lose 10 men, was to bring peace to Helmand’sprovince, so democracy could take place, as voters felt safe and secure when casting their ballot papers.  On the news today he is backpeddling from that stated aim but that is to be expected from a Government caught up in its own web of deceit.

So did we achieve the objective of bringing democracy to Helmand’s and people feeling safe to cast their vote?  Yes, if you say that 107 / 107 polling stations were open…the only problem with that was that, in a region with a potential electorate of 80,000 voters….only 150 voted.  That’s a turnout of 0.18% .  This figure has yet to be fully confirmed but it wont suddenly jump above say 5%.  That was a sign that the local population still felt threatened by the Taliban.  Hence in Helmand’s the Taliban secured their goal….make feel too scared to vote.

This again throws into question the strategy employed by the Government. 

We owe our forces so much more than this.  Bob Ainsworth consistently shows himself to be out of his depth in this role and is possibly one of the most uncaring Ministers I have seen explain away soldier’s deaths on television. 

God bless our troops for operating under such poor leadership.

The more we move further into this conflict, the more disgust I feel at Government inactivity and cover-ups.  They are beyond contempt and an embarrassment upon the great reputation of this country abroad.

The Telegraph reports today that the Head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, has called for more resources in Afghanistan.  This is finally after the Government have admitted key staff shortages are undermining operations to protect troops from roadside deaths.  Whilst Gordon remains on holiday, troops fighting on his direct command, take unnecessary risks and lose their lives.  Never has a leader had so much blood stains on his hands.

As deaths continue to mount up, we all have a duty to pressure this Government.  It is clear, we dont have enough protective equipment in the region, especially against roadside bombs, which have claimed the last 20 deaths.  We don’t have enough helicopters to ensure are troops are transported safely—or have the element of surprise on the enemy, by popping up in different positions.  The more that soldiers take risks because of shortages and the absence of a clear strategy, (as TBB blogged about 2 days back : http://bit.ly/QamCh), the casualty level will rise and success will be even further away.

What does Labour do?  It’s first, natural instinct is to attack and belittle the reputation of Sir Richard Dannatt.  Paul Waugh is reporting on his superb blog that an unnamed Labour Minister is making Freedom of Information requests requests targeting the “entertainment” costs of Gen Dannatt, who is now being seen by Labour as the Govt’s chief critic on poor resourcing of the troops.  The FoIs seek to find out just how much taxpayer cash has been spent wining and dining guests.  Obviously Labour wants to leak an expose on how much public money Sir Richard spent wining and dining guests at his official residence in Kensington Palace.  Take a look at Paul’s overview here.  http://tiny.cc/1kkJB

Thankfully Liam Fox has come to the defence of this dreadful attempt of smear.  Fox, an increasingly impressive front bench spokesperson, has stated: “Labour has now become the government of fear and smear. Whilst suppressing reports of their own incompetence, they attempt to undermine the reputation of one of our most distinguished generals.  At a time when our soldiers are dying in Afghanistan, ministers spend their time in puerile personality politics. General Dannatt is a man of honour and integrity who leads from the front. His Labour detractors are squalid and cowardly, undermining from the shadows.”

So Draper & McBride may have gone, their ethos and natural tendencies to smear and spread lies remains very much at the heart of Labour.  What a disgrace and shamble this Government are in their final dying days.

The ghosts of Christmas Past….their tactics live on at the heart of Labour

The House remains empty, but no time away for the British Forces

Whilst MP’s are away from Parliament, our brave soldiers toil away in the heat, fighting to provide us with the security we know and love back here in the UK.  These soldiers risk life and limb daily, hence we have to do all we can to show our support back home.  BUT by questioning the aims, objectives, troop levels, equipment employed in theatre, we are NOT undermining our troops, we are strengthening their resolve by knowing we are doing all we can for them.  Hence, with so much media questioning, politicians being critical and army chiefs both publicly and privately questioning the war, the time has come for an emergency recall of Parliament.  Questions need to be answered and David Cameron & Liam Fox need to get answers to the questions listed below.

A price worth paying?

Number of British troops lost in Afghanistan to date:  204 and counting…… (Number of British troops lost in Iraq war:  179)

Deaths by Age in Afghanistan: 26 (16-20), 73 (21-25), 54 (26-30), 22 (31-35), 12 (36-40), 3 (41-45), 4 (46-50).

Deaths per year: 2006 39 dead, 2007 42 Dead, 2008 51 Dead, 2009 67 Dead…so far

Wounded: 94 British soldiers wounded in July 2009 (double the figure of June).

Wounded year to date: 236 so far (last year’s total was 235)

So David Cameron, please demand a recall of Parliament.  Let the Conservatives take the lead.  David if you are worried of being accused of undermining the troops….you are not.  What is undermining the troops is the lack of truth being told and the fact that the soldiers families are telling troops on the frontline of the debates in our media on a daily basis.  David, you can stop this and clear the fog up by seeking the re-call of Parliament.  The electorate would thank you for it and respect your judgement of helping the forces. 

So the questions David Cameron and Liam Fox should be seeking answers to from Brown & Ainsworth:

-    What are our current mission objectives in Afghanistan?   (These have to be specific & measurable, not vague rhetoric of stopping terrorists reaching UK or provide democracy to the region….it could be argued that bringing democracy to the region will be achieved through the elections this month…but we know that troops won’t be pulled out post these elections as the region is still unstable, hence why we need more specific objectives).)

-    When do we know when the mission goals have been achieved?  Again, have to be specific so people can judge if we are achieving them.

-    What is our exit strategy?   When is this estimated to be?  Do the Government agree that, as reported by a Leading Army General, Britain will need to be there for 30/40 years, in what capacity and what numbers?

-    Do the Government agree with President Karzai that the Taliban and terrorist groups should be brought to the negotiating table today?  Would the UK Government negotiate with the Taliban?

-    What successes have been achieved thus far in this campaign?  Is Operation Panther’s Claw a success as Sky News on the ground reports demonstrate an enemy that is still very well organised and able to attack at will.  Why was Panther’s Claw judged a success?

-    On election day, the terrorists will be planning a series of atrocities.  What contingency plans have been made to protect citizens and British Troops?

-    How can Britain and the USA ensure a fair burden of military operations with NATO in this campaign?  We know that NATO partners have token forces in presence and those that are there are placed in more remote areas of Afghanistan with less chances of direct conflict.  Why is the Government silent on this issue and allowing Brits & Americans to shoulder the main bulk of the military offensive? 

-    How has the Government reviewed whether military equipment used by soldiers is fit for purpose?  Why do military top brass criticise their equipment if it is fit for purpose??

-    Are their enough Army helicopters to get troops in and out of the theatre of battle quickly enough?  Can the Government see any evidence of troops entering the battle theatre in slow moving vehicles leaving them exposed to enemy attack?  Why did a now dead army soldier report back on video that US Soldiers were taking the piss out of British Military equipment for being so bad?  Is cost the key influencing criteria for issuing military equipment into the Theatre of battle?  If so, has cost led to any cutbacks of equipment thus far and in what?

-     Has opium production increased or decreased in Afghanistan in the past 12 months?  What evidence does the Government have when reports indicate Opium production has radically increased?

-     Has Taliban geographical control increased or decreased in past 12 months and will the Government map out their perspective of the locations of Taliban spheres of influence, (including that of Pakistan).

-     If there was a terrorist attack in the UK by Al Qaeda would that then signify a failure of mission objectives in Afghanistan?

-     How many terrorist attacks have been foiled by Scotland Yard in the past 2 years by groups linked to the Taliban/Afghanistan/Al Qaeda? 

-     How many terrorist sympathisers are being monitored/tracked in the UK at this current time?

-     How many people from Afghanistan & Pakistan entered the UK under a student visa and cannot currently be tracked?

It is clear, from an exclusive interview on Sky News with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a Mujahideen leader who was once the Afghan prime minister, now leads the Hezb-e-Islami political party and paramilitary group, that nothing short of US & British troop withdawel from Afghanistan is what they seek and this war will be long and bloody. Take a look here.  Hence, the need to answer questions if we are in this for the long term……

It is only fair that every citizen, particularly soldiers and their families, know and understand our objectives.  They risk their lives…it is the least we owe them.

It is not unpatriotic to ask these questions.  It does not undermine our armed forces.  It does not show a divided nation.

Lets recall Parliament and reinforce our objectives and support our troops and their families by answering these questions.  They deserve nothing less.

For those interested take a look at previous blogs and insights into this subject close to all our hearts:

Afghanistan: Why we ALL have a right to question our strategy   http://tiny.cc/R0p1d

UK Possesses 67 Apache Attack Helicopters: Guess how many are in Afghanistan?: http://tiny.cc/z6iFp

Lest we forget….A Tribute: http://tiny.cc/rrzfq

Bob Ainsworth…the man…a message: http://tiny.cc/2GA0K

The Blood on Gordon Brown’s Hands: http://tiny.cc/ltofZ

Obama shifts Tact….as TBB looks into Afghanistan home of drugs & legalised rape: http://tiny.cc/qnEPi

Afghanistan…Questions Gordon Brown must answer now: http://tiny.cc/ObHC6

What the hell are we doing in Afghanistan? Why the Silence?  It’s time for answers!: http://tiny.cc/yIpKM

The Government is fast losing control over Afghanistan.  Putting aside partisan politics, our unified duty is to ensure that our troops operate to clear objectives, have the best resources behind them, to limit potential dangers to them and reduce the increasing death toll.  But it does not help that the Prime Minister has again been caught lying.  Thank god that Pinocchio tendencies are not real as Brown would have a nose longer than the river Nile!  This contempt for the British people and telling lies is fast becoming a norm and will be interwoven into his legacy. 

Brown has been calling all week for political parties and politicians not to break cross party support for the war as this undermines our troops and sends the wrong message to the enemy.  He tries to make us feel disloyal and that we are playing into the hands of the enemy by speaking out.  Of course, normally he is right.  But when the strategy is unclear and troops are sent into battle with less than adequate equipment, then people have a right to ask questions…it is OUR COLLECTIVE DUTY.  This weekend, not only do we have the Lib Dems & Conservatives raising questions, former Defence Chief John Hutton is entering into the debate, but we also have more insight into Defence Chiefs unease and even President Karzai of Afghanistan is questioning strategy of troop deployment and whether to negotiate with the Taliban.  All these strands show that Afghanistan is crying out for clear leadership and Brown has failed our soldiers on giving it and letting this situation get out of control.

Let’s look at the evidence from Sunday Newspaper revelations….

Remember this quote from the Prime Minister to the House of Commons, 2 days back?  Field commanders had “assured me that… troops have the equipment that they need”…..well that now appears not to be the case!!!!  ‘Surprise, surprise’ as Cilla would say.

Ever addicted to spin and managing the media, Brown organised a photo opportunity to highlight his support for British war heroes.  A young soldier and a charity fundraiser seriously injured in the war for Iraq joined Gordon on the steps of No.10 for a nice photo for all the national papers to print….making the electorate think of Gordon as a lovely bloke committed to our soldiers.  However, all did not go to plan!  What will be remembered is a quote from Sir Jock Stirrup, chief of the defence staff, and his admission he was “busting a gut”to get more helicopters for Afghanistan.  The quote nails the lie of Brown’s insistence these past few weeks that the mission in Helmand was fully equipped.  What makes Brown think he can get away with telling such porkers that defence Chiefs were happy…the truth always outs! 

This follows hot on the heels of a bad week for the Government that saw a minister anonymously attacking the head of the army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, as a “total c***”.   This enraged the army so much that they spoke out and hence defied every unwritten convention dictating that generals do not meddle in politics, and that politicians remain impartial.  As we know Bob Ainsworth had to write to all his Ministers to rein them in —the sure sign of a man not fit for the job.  Today…humiliatingly, we learn that the ‘real Prime Minister’ Peter Mandolsen has had to intervene to calm the situation and stop negative briefings toward Dannatt.  Bob is fast coming an embarrassment that this Government is carrying…what can Brown do….sack him?….that implies strong leadership!

Helicopters still dominates the news.  Interestingly, the Sunday Telegraph revealed that the Government rejected the opportunity to buy 12 “cut-price” helicopters, which were  nearly ready for operational use in Afghanistan.  Given spending restraints the Government opted to save money and focus on upgrading its own machines. Ministers rejected an offer of a dozen SA 330 Puma transport helicopters from the United Arab Emirates at a cost of about £6 million each.   How much would you price the value of 1 saved soldier?

SA 330 Puma transport helicopters.   

Today, John Hutton, Former Defence Secretary, has powerfully added his voice to the calls for extra troops and helicopters to be provided for British forces in Helmand in an interview in the Sunday Telegraph.  Did you know that there are about 25 British military helicopters in Afghanistan, out of more than 600 operated by the Armed Forces worldwide?   Hutton stated that the mood among troops on the ground was “unequivocal”on the need for more troops, helicopters and protection from roadside bombs.  Hutton predicted that there would be “urgent discussions” taking place on adding to the 9,000-strong British deployment. And he called for a promised review of troop numbers to be brought forward from October. In today’s article, Mr Hutton backed the Government’s strategy of stabilising Afghanistan and defeating those who would offer a safe haven to al Qaida. But he added: “It is going to take more resources to properly execute… “It is clear we need more logistical support to reduce the risk of as much of the troop movements and supply effort as possible.”

Some interesting points from John Hutton….but of course upping the troop numbers without a proportionate increase in helicopters and protective equipment would be foolhardy.  This discussion is not about adding more troops….it is bigger than that.

Last up we learn in the Sunday Times, the President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, is questioning strategy.  Karzai has asked the West to reflect on creating a new strategy for Afghanistan, warning that more troops does not go hand in hand with improving security.  “Military operations are no longer enough, We have to rethink the way we do things — without that there won’t be any improvement.”  That is quite a damning insight.  As the number of British troops dieing in Afghanistan reaches its highest numbers, the President of Afghanistan doubts the strategy is working!

But Karzai went one step further.  He called for negotiations with the Taliban!  Karzai would even be prepared for Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader, to attend talks!  Wow this has echoes of Chamberlain and Hitler!  This is smacking of appeasement and if the President of Afghanistan is happy to negotiate with the enemy, it makes you really question what would happy if troops were withdrawn today!  

Let us not forget, as demonstrated by a recent blog article insight into Karzai’s Afghanisatn, that the regime is corrupt.  Take a look here.  http://bit.ly/dLHNL   

Our soldiers and their families deserve better than this current policy, strategic, operational mess we are witnessing.  What is crytsal clear is the bravery of our soldiers who unquestionably put their lives on the line for this country.  Our support is unwavering for them.  But our support for what is right and the truth is also as unwavering and we have a duty to question and speak out! 

The most depressing of sights…fallen British heroes brought home in coffins.  No more….

There may not be enough Chinook’s in Afganistan but you can see plenty at the Air Show in Fairford this weekend

Full credit to John Laity who brilliantly raised this point in the comments thread of TBB’s previous blog.  I will reproduce again here for this article:

______________________________________________________________

John Laity comment:

This weekend is the Royal Air Tattoo at Fairford.

I live in the MATZ for Fairford and have been watching aircraft arrive at low level all day. It is great as we have a 1000 ft cloud base which means you can waive at the pilots ;0)

Today I have seen:
4 Medium Helicopters kitted our for radar and anti-submarine
2 Medium Helicopters kitted out for anti-ship & Anti-submarine
2 Attack Helecopters (to be fair possibly low level training)
4 Medium Attack Helicopters (Italian I think)
2 F15 Eagles

All in the space of 20 minutes.

What this must mean is that the 8 nm airspace between Fairford and Lyneham (containing Wootton Basset) is now better protected than our troops in action. Small comfort for those arriving back I am sure…

Now I am NOT critiquing the airshow or the great job the dedicated display pilots will do this weekend. However, I would bet all the money in the world, that if you asked any one of them, they would deploy tomorrow to protect our troops on the ground.

It is CRIMINAL not to provide EVERY resource we have at our disposal to protect the lives of our troops on the ground. We must stop trashing money on banks and spend on urgent equipment. This in turn safeguards UK Jobs and prosperity..I am not a huge fan of Margaret Thatcher, but she went so far as to deploy the QE2 in the Falklands!

Save troops lives, not greedy bankers!

______________________________________________________________

Thanks John.  I have looked into this further and it is fascinating to see the full list of British aircraft participating at this show.  Please note this is all British aircraft.  There are hundreds more from across the world.

Whilst some may criticise this article, it does draw a point quite nicely that some of these helicopters could be being equipped for service for our troops?

Take a look at the show, it does look awesome and the Saturday is sold out.  In many ways it is a great way to show your support for the troops.  http://www.airtattoo.com/airshow

British aircraft at the Fairford Air Show.  Yes there are Chinooks, Apache, Merlin, Lynx, Sea King’s….more helicopters than in Afghanistan !!!!

NB  F=Flying, S-Static, SP=Support, V=Visitor

AIRCRAFT	SQUADRON	THEME
Army Air Corps
Apache AH1	TBC	NATO 60th
Apache AH1 and Lynx AH7	The Blue Eagles	NATO 60th
Defender AL1	651 Squadron	NATO 60th
Islander AL1	1 Flt, 5 Regt	NATO 60th
Lynx AH7	672 Sqn, 9 Regt	NATO 60th
Lynx AH9	672 Sqn, 9 Regt	NATO 60th
QinetiQ
Sea King Mk4 X	QinetiQ	Fly Navy 100
Royal Air Force
A109E Power	32 (TR) Squadron	NATO 60th
C-17A Globemaster III	99 Squadron	NATO 60th
C-17A Globemaster III	99 Squadron	NATO 60th
Chinook HC2	27 Squadron	NATO 60th
Chinook HC2	27 Squadron	NATO 60th
Dominie T1	55 (R) Squadron	NATO 60th
E-3D Sentry AEW1	8 Squadron	NATO 60th
Griffin HT1	60 (R) Squadron	NATO 60th
Grob Viking (x2)	621 VGS	NATO 60th
Harrier GR7/9	TBC	NATO 60th
Hawk T1	208 (R) Squadron	NATO 60th
Hawk T1 (x11)	The Red Arrows	NATO 60th
Hawk T1 (x2)	208 (R) Squadron	NATO 60th
Hawk T2	19 Squadron	NATO 60th
Hurricane IIC	BBMF	NATO 60th
King Air B200	45 (R) Squadron	NATO 60th
King Air B200	45 (R) Squadron	NATO 60th
Lancaster B1	BBMF	NATO 60th
Merlin HC3	28 (AC) Squadron	NATO 60th
Merlin HC3A	78 Squadron	NATO 60th
Nimrod MRA2	42 (R) Squadron	Sea Search 09
Puma HC1	33 Squadron	NATO 60th
Puma HC1	230 Squadron	NATO 60th
Sea King HAR3	202 Squadron	NATO 60th
Sea King HAR3	202 Squadron	Sea Search 09
Sentinel R1	5 (AC) Squadron	NATO 60th
Spitfire	BBMF	NATO 60th
Squirrel HT1	60 (R) Squadron	NATO 60th
Squirrel HT1 (x2)	DHFS
Tornado F3	111 Squadron	NATO 60th
Tornado GR4	XIII Squadron	NATO 60th
Tristar	216 Squadron	NATO 60th
Tucano T.1 (x2)	207 (R) Squadron	NATO 60th
Typhoon (x2)	29 (R) Squadron	NATO 60th
VC10 C1K	101 Squadron	NATO 60th
VC-10 C1K	101 Squadron	NATO 60th
Vigilant (x4)	612 VGS	NATO 60th
Viking T1 (x2)	621 VGS
Royal Navy
Chipmunk	RNHF	Fly Navy 100
Falcon 20 (x2) and Hawk T1 (x4)	The Black Sea Hawks	Fly Navy 100
Harrier GR7/9	NSW	Fly Navy 100
Harrier GR7/9 (x3)	NSW	Fly Navy 100
Hawk T1 (x2)	NFSF (FW)	Fly Navy 100
Jetstream T2	750 NAS	Fly Navy 100
Jetstream T2 (x4)	750 NAS	Fly Navy 100
Lynx	815 NAS	Fly Navy 100
Lynx AH7	847 NAS	Fly Navy 100
Lynx HAS3/HMA8 (x2)	The Black Cats	Fly Navy 100
Lynx HAS3/HMA8 (x4)	various	Fly Navy 100
Merlin HM1	TBC	Fly Navy 100
Merlin HM1	814 NAS	Fly Navy 100
Merlin HM1 (x4)	various	Fly Navy 100
Sea King ASac7 (x2) & HU5 (x2)	various	Fly Navy 100
Sea King HAS2	Sea King IPT	Fly Navy 100
Sea King HAS6	846 NAS	Fly Navy 100
Sea King HC4	845 NAS	Fly Navy 100
Sea King HC4/HAS6 (x4)	CHF	Fly Navy 100
Sea King HUS5 (SAR)	771 NAS	Fly Navy 100
Squirrel HT1 (x2) & Griffin HT1 (x2)	DHFS	Fly Navy 100
T67M Firefly (x4)	703 NAS	Fly Navy 100
“Lads, stay low to the ground, helicopters are coming, they have to finish an air show first”!!

Apache attack helicopters are those helicopters which can support our troops on the ground and are well known as ‘attack’ helicopters.

Out of a UK fleet of 67…..how many are currently in Afghanistan?

This will shock you…….8! …….. yes…EIGHT!

No wonder the Defence Select Committee released a powerful report slamming the Government this am.  The Select Cttee Chairman James Arbuthnot said: “It seems to us that operational commanders in the field today are unable to undertake potentially valuable operations because of the lack of helicopters for transportation around the theatre of operations. We are also concerned that operational commanders find they have to use ground transport, when helicopter lift would be preferred, both for the outcome and for the protection of our forces.”

No further words needed.

Would less lives have been lost if more helicopters were in service in Afghanistan?  Well many soldiers have died whilst in convoy from planted roadside bombs…of course this boils down to transport helicopters rather than attack helicopters.  ‘Lift’ helicopter stats are harder to come by, especially those in service in Afghanistan!

It is fascinating to read about the size and scope of the British overall helicopter fleet, (obviously total figures).    http://tiny.cc/4ypvV   How many of these are in Afghanistan is the question!

Current Platform Numbers and Out of Service Dates (OSD)

To understand how each helicopter is classified: