April 17, 2005
PATRIOT DAME:
Thatcher: 'Save Scotland's regiments' (EDDIE BARNES, 2/17/05, The Scotsman)
BARONESS Thatcher has struck her first blow in the election battle by making an impassioned call to save Scotland’s historic infantry regiments from the axe.The former Conservative Prime Minister has condemned the government’s plans to amalgamate the six Scottish infantry regiments into a single super-regiment as "irresponsible", "painful" and "damaging".
She added that, with the threat of "evil" ever present, now was a time to strengthen the nation’s defences, rather than weaken them.
The characteristically robust attack marks Thatcher’s entry into election hostilities and is sure to propel the future of Scotland’s regiments to the forefront of the agenda north of the Border.
Posted by Orrin Judd at April 17, 2005 1:23 PM
You would think that a military looking to economize would be preserving regiments which can be lethal with their music alone.
Posted by: bart at April 17, 2005 2:00 PMWhy can't the constipated bean counters and management gurus at MoD simply establish a Scottish Division of two brigades, each with three of the traditional-but-undersized regiments, and a consolidated support regiment? It would preserve operational flexibility while preserving all the morale and combat-effectiveness advantages that come from a sense of shared tradition and unit identity. Someone is letting flowchart templates overrule sanity. Cheers to Mrs Thatcher for speaking up.
Posted by: Axel Kassel at April 17, 2005 2:14 PMMr. Kassel;
You're presuming that an effective military is a goal of the people doing the planning. I suspect that in reality, such concerns do not even arise sufficiently to be dismissed.
Posted by: Annoying Old Guy at April 18, 2005 1:43 PM