Hospital operating theatres lay idle as doctors and nurses clock off

Operating theatres lying idle

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29 June 2010

You might be interested in this one from The Sunday Times (2008), particularly as the Miliband boys are now contesting the Labour leadership. Under a freedom of information request the newspaper unearthed a few facts about the Miliband dynasty...

‘Grand-dad Miliband’, Samuel, was (probably) born in Warsaw in 1895. When the Soviets invaded Poland in 1919, he joined the Red Army, fighting alongside the Communists. The years passed and Samuel had a son, Adolphe, raising him in Belgium, until 1940 when the Nazis came marching in. Samuel and Adolphe then fled to England, where son Adolphe (understandably) changed his name… to Ralph.

Still with me? Good. After the war Ralph stayed in England but his father returned to Belgium. But then Samuel realised that the war had destroyed his business, so he tried to get back to England. And then the trouble started. The Home Office refused his application for citizenship. Samuel then claimed that he was suffering anti-Semitism in Belgium, so could he please come in now?

“Nope” said the British. They didn’t believe him, despite further letters and pressure from son Ralph (who later became a prominent Marxist academic). Belgium at the time was run by a Socialist government that did not discriminate against Jews. (Europe had had quite enough of that business). One Home Office report from 1948 states: “Miliband and son have so misrepresented the case in the past, I am afraid we can place no reliance on their statements”, and when embassy officials interviewed Samuel he admitted his claims of persecution were untrue and he was not being expelled from Belgium. Ernest Bevin, foreign secretary, decided in 1948 that the Miliband’s claims were “without foundation”.

Samuel Miliband tried nine times to get in, and in 1954 he succeeded. The old boys of British Socialism rallied round and pulled strings. So to recap: the next leader of the Labour Party will probably be David Miliband, whose own grandfather made nine false applications to be a British citizen, supported by misleading statements from Ralph (father of Ed and David). I’m beginning to understand why David Miliband might be so keen on increasing immigration to Britain.

David Challice

UK Independence Party

For more information Freephone: 0800 587 6587 or visit www.ukip.org

A British soldier excavates an unexploded bomb.

A bomb disposal expert was killed in a gunfight with insurgents yesterday, The Guardian tells us, using the MoD as it source.

The solider from 101 Engineer Regiment (EOD), was attached to the joint force explosive ordnance disposal group, part of the counter improvised explosive device (IED) task force. He was "... part of an EOD team that was extracting from an incident when he was killed by small arms fire," said Lieutenant Colonel James Carr-Smith, a spokesman for Task Force Helmand.

"He died seeking to rid Helmand of IEDs such that local Afghans could move freely throughout the province. He will be greatly missed and his actions will not be forgotten. We will remember him," adds Carr-Smith.

But fine words butter no parsnips, as the saying goes. There are occasions when EODs must work out in the open, and this does put them at risk. However, as long as there is vehicle access to the site of a suspected IED, then there is no need whatsoever for a soldier to expose himself to fire.

In the first instance, there is the Husky set, for detecting IEDs and for detonating pressure-pad initiated devices. Mine rollers and armoured bulldozers also have their place. Then there is the Buffalo armoured vehicle, which can be use to investigate suspect devices. There are also tracked robots which can be used for further investigation – these can be controlled from the safety of a Mastiff protected vehicle.

However, in this man's Army, great value is placed on the ability of the EOD to neutralise and then dismantle IEDs, for the forensic evidence that it yields and thus the assistance it gives in tracking and arresting bomb-makers. For that reason, it is held, EOD must expose themselves to danger – for the greater good.

That argument would stand up if the policy led to a reduction in the number of bomb-makers and the number of IEDs placed. In fact, despite four or maybe five EODs being killed (perhaps more), plus an unknown number of soldiers killed while using hand-held metal detectors, IED incidents are at a record level.

Further, there are different and better ways of gaining intelligence to thwart the bomb makers, such as automatic change detection, or even direct UAV observation, tracing bomb-layers back to their bases – plus more subtle techniques.

Two years ago, we were asking how many more times must men be pitted against bombs, when there are machines which can be used in place of flesh and blood. In fact, we have been pointing this out ever since 2205.

Sending men against bombs is the equivalent of the First World War practice of having men in orderly lines walk into the muzzles of machine guns, instead of using tanks. In this modern age, we find it appalling that the military could even consider such barbarity – so why is it acceptable for the modern-day military to do what amounts to the same thing?

We need to forget the fine words – and bring these people back home alive.

Acknowledgements to Richard North - EU Referendum blog