This is a serious blow for Brown and his discredited Labour Government. Even the very top brass of the British armed forces cannot stomach his outright dishonesty and disrespect for our armed forces.

The sooner our brave men and woman of the United Kingdom’s armed forces have a Conservative Government they can trust the better.

Jim Ferguson

PM Admits Iraq Inquiry Defence Spending Error

6:54pm UK, Wednesday March 17, 2010

Miranda Richardson, Sky News Online

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has admitted giving incorrect evidence to the Iraq Inquiry on defence spending.

Mr Brown told Sir John Chilcot’s panel that the defence budget had risen “in real terms every year”.

But House of Commons reseach shows Mr Brown’s claim was wrong, and he has now written to Sir John to correct it.

Mr Brown was asked by the Inquiry if he was aware senior figures from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said they were concerned that the 1998 strategic defence review had not been fully funded.

The PM said that the Treasury had agreed spending with the MoD for 2002, 2004 and 2007.

“The Iraqi expenditure was being met, but at the same time the defence budget was rising in real terms every year,” he said.

Repeating his claim, he told them: “The spending review of 2004 gave the Ministry of Defence a rising level of real spending, moving from 1.2% to 1.4% in real terms each year.”

But a research note prepared by the House of Commons Library in October last year showed defence expenditure had fallen in real terms in four financial years since Labour came to power in 1997: 1997/98 (-2.2%); 1999/2000 (-0.4%); 2004/5 (-0.7%); and 2006/7 (-0.1%).

The average annual increase between 1997 and 2009 was 2.7%, it said, but noted that “this figure is likely to have been distorted by current operations”.

Asked at Prime Minister’s Questions whether he would correct the record, Mr Brown said: “Yes. I am already writing to Sir John Chilcot about this issue.

“Because of operational fluctuations in the way the money is spent, expenditure has risen in cash terms every year, in real terms it is 12% higher, but I do accept that in one or two years defence expenditure did not rise in real terms.”

The Prime Minister’s evidence to the Inquiry sparked condemnation from senior military figures.

Lord Boyce – who was the head of the military at the time of the invasion – called him “disingenuous” and insisted the MoD was starved of funds.

“He’s dissembling, he’s being disingenuous,” Admiral Boyce told The Times newspaper.

“It’s just not the case that the Ministry of Defence was given everything it needed

“There may have been a 1.5% increase in the defence budget but the MoD was starved of funds.”

Lord Boyce’s predecessor Lord Guthrie accused Mr Brown of costing soldiers their lives by failing to fund the army properly.

The Tories described Mr Brown’s admission as a “humiliating climbdown”.

Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said: “He has made repeated and fundamentally false claims, misleading Parliament, the public and worst of all the Armed Forces and their families.”

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said Mr Brown had “taken the first opportunity” to tell MPs about the mistake.

<a href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=2001437c67″>Prime Minister’s Questions</a>

Soldier Lobs Taliban Grenade Back At Enemy

9:00am UK, Tuesday March 09, 2010

Damien Pearse, Sky News Online

A British soldier has saved his comrades by scooping up a live Taliban grenade and throwing it straight back at the enemy moments before it exploded.

Rifleman James McKie suffered cuts to his face after the grenade exploded

The device hit Rifleman James McKie’s platoon commander and landed at his feet during a battle in the Sangin area of Helmand Province in Afghanistan.

And as the enemy continued to pound his position from three directions the young soldier lobbed the grenade as far as he could.

“I remember thinking that if I didn’t pull this off, it was going to hurt,” he said. “But at that stage I was pretty much committed.”

Split seconds after the grenade left his hand it exploded in mid-air, firing fragments into Rifleman McKie’s face and arm.

His commander Captain Graeme Kerr suffered leg injuries and is now recovering at Selly Oak Hospital in the UK.

Rifleman McKie was posted on the roof of a building when he saw the grenade. Another soldier, also on the roof, escaped unhurt.

Rifleman McKie, from Recce Platoon, 3rd Battalion The Rifles, and originally from New Zealand, described the drama.

“I heard what sounded like a mini flare come from our right where I knew there were none of our guys, so I thought this was really unusual.

“We were in a high position on a compound roof.

“There was no way you could throw yourself off and not get injured, so I made a decision to pick up the grenade and throw it off the roof.”

He went on: “My platoon has taken a lot of casualties. I really didn’t want to see anyone else get hurt.”

Rifleman McKie threw smoke to cover their withdrawal, allowing them to reach the safety of another compound.

Captain Kerr was immediately evacuated by helicopter, but Rifleman McKie was able to continue in his duties until the following day.

“I don’t feel particularly brave,” he said.

“I’m not expecting anything from my comrades … I don’t want any thanks from them. I just don’t want them to get hurt.”

Outstanding bravery which is typical of our gallant fighting forces. What a great pity this Labour Government doesnt think so. Both Labour and the sneaky LibDems have an inheritant loathing of all things patriotic.

I hope when he threw the grenade back it hit its intended targets.

Jim Ferguson

The economic mismanagement of the Armed Forces by this Labour Government is staggering. However while its totally wrong for them to have botched things in such a fundamental way what is totally unacceptable is putting the lives of our fighting men and woman at risk due to their incompetence.

The sooner we get rid of this Labour Government the better.

Jim Ferguson

Shadow Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox has criticised the Government’s cuts to Britain’s defence capability.

“Today we see that the Government is trying to fight a war from the core defence budget”, he said. This is despite Gordon Brown and Bob Ainsworth saying that the Treasury reserve is covering the cost of the war in Afghanistan.

Fox said the reason for the cuts was not as a response to a diminished threat – “if anything the threat is increasing” – but as a result of “catastrophic economic mismanagement”.”Our brave armed forces are paying for Labour’s incompetence”, he said.

He welcomed the announcement of new Chinook helicopters, but noted that they would not have been necessary if the Prime Minister had not, against all advice, cut £1.4bn from the helicopter programme in 2004.

If it wasn’t for this failure to understand the Armed Forces “those Chinooks could have been on the front line today, saving the lives of our brave soldiers”, he said

“Instead”, he added, “they will not be available until at least 2013 by which time, according to the Prime Minister, we should have substantially transferred security responsibility to Afghan national forces”.