My my, what a serious thread!
For what its worth, my personal opinion is that the Government are a bunch of lying, theiving, self serving toe-rags. There is, and can be no excuse for the amount of duty levied on road fuel in this country. Will protesting do any good? Not if its in the way this country usually protests. I'm afraid a Sunday jaunt through the streets of Westminster, ending up in Hyde Park just won't cut it. There is one thing and one thing alone that will drop the price of fuel in this country, and thats when everybody stops buying it. Do it for a prolonged period and the Government will be forced to drop the rate of fuel duty just to stimulate their No1 revenue stream again. We won't do it so its not worthy of further discussion.
SabreUK, a good job well done on escorting the tankers. You did as you and I signed up to do, act as the enforcer of the will of Her Majesty's Government. What people forget all too often, is that THEY elected the government, either by their action or inaction. 50% of them don't vote and then see fit to criticise or question the actions of the Armed Forces who, like it or not, are acting in their name and for their benefit. For total clarity, the ONLY circumstances under which you can disobey a direct order and get off totally scot free, is if that order is (in time of war/operations) at odds with the Geneva Convention, or genuinely deemed by you to be unjustifiably and morally wrong (moral courage MATT6). Escorting tankers fits neither of these, so the order to do so can not be legally refused.
I expect neither praise nor punishment for the work that I do, but I will accept both where required without complaint. You either support us or you don't and you must also take the rough with the smooth. You can't with clear head and clear conscience, praise one aspect of our duties whilst complaining about another. It is the same people doing both tasks with equal devotion and unswerving attention to detail. Regardless of Colour, Creed, Corps or Regiment, nobody cares where you came from or where you've been, only where you are now and where you're going. One organisation, one team, and if they don't like it, fcuk 'em.
For what its worth, my personal opinion is that the Government are a bunch of lying, theiving, self serving toe-rags. There is, and can be no excuse for the amount of duty levied on road fuel in this country. Will protesting do any good? Not if its in the way this country usually protests. I'm afraid a Sunday jaunt through the streets of Westminster, ending up in Hyde Park just won't cut it. There is one thing and one thing alone that will drop the price of fuel in this country, and thats when everybody stops buying it. Do it for a prolonged period and the Government will be forced to drop the rate of fuel duty just to stimulate their No1 revenue stream again. We won't do it so its not worthy of further discussion.
SabreUK, a good job well done on escorting the tankers. You did as you and I signed up to do, act as the enforcer of the will of Her Majesty's Government. What people forget all too often, is that THEY elected the government, either by their action or inaction. 50% of them don't vote and then see fit to criticise or question the actions of the Armed Forces who, like it or not, are acting in their name and for their benefit. For total clarity, the ONLY circumstances under which you can disobey a direct order and get off totally scot free, is if that order is (in time of war/operations) at odds with the Geneva Convention, or genuinely deemed by you to be unjustifiably and morally wrong (moral courage MATT6). Escorting tankers fits neither of these, so the order to do so can not be legally refused.
I expect neither praise nor punishment for the work that I do, but I will accept both where required without complaint. You either support us or you don't and you must also take the rough with the smooth. You can't with clear head and clear conscience, praise one aspect of our duties whilst complaining about another. It is the same people doing both tasks with equal devotion and unswerving attention to detail. Regardless of Colour, Creed, Corps or Regiment, nobody cares where you came from or where you've been, only where you are now and where you're going. One organisation, one team, and if they don't like it, fcuk 'em.
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