Wednesday 27 May 2015

Plaid get their priories wrong over basing military in Wales.

I was somewhat shocked to see in the Wasting Mule Online this morning that 
It reads
Plaid Cymru will launch a bid today to ensure many Welsh servicemen and women are based in Wales when not on active service.
Defence spokesman and Arfon MP Hywel Williams will call for the UK Government to carry out a “full assessment and feasibility study”.
Today, the 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh is based at Lucknow Barracks in Tidworth, Wiltshire. The Queen’s Dragoon Guards’ UK home is Swanton Morley in Norfolk, and the Welsh Guards are based at Pirbright, Surrey.
Plaid argues that basing members of the armed forces in Wales would allow soldiers to enjoy wider support networks and would also be good for the Welsh economy.
 Mr Williams said: 


In our election manifesto, Plaid Cymru said that we would investigate basing Welsh regiments in Wales when not on active service.“We will push for this and press for the government to consider stationing one or all of the Welsh regiments in Wales.
“Historically this has had support from all political parties in Wales, as various motions and voices of support in parliament down the years testify. Currently, the three Welsh regiments are stationed in England when not on active service.
“At the beginning of this week the last of the Queen’s Dragoon Guards that were stationed in Germany, have been moved back to the UK – but are stationed in East Anglia.
“Not only are there several locations in Wales that are suitable for stationing a regiment, but facilities in Wales are excellent.”

Are these realy Welsh Regiments ?

The Queens Dragoons Guards  Wales and the bordering English counties of Herefordshire, and Shropshire but what percentage of the Regiment including Officers are actually Welsh ?


Personally I'm fed up with seeing Military Personnel  always at the opening of Welsh International Matches  to see the WRU acting as propaganda for successive governments who try with ideas like Armed Forces Day seek to create a constant link with the military and their interventionist polices in the Middle East.


Plaid should be concentrating on making sure that young Welsh Men and Women are not forced by lack of Job prospects to join the military as the only option left to them.


It is to its credit that  Plaid's former MP Elfyn Llwyd, fought  almost alone for the care of former soldiers 


In 2011 speaking on  ministers' failure to put the military covenant into law, an MP has said



"It is politicians who place these brave troops in harm's way. We owe them a duty to ensure their wellbeing upon their return home. Anything else is a breach of the military covenant,".
Mr Llwyd  at the time said he had been excluded from committee stage of the bill, saying it "smacks of a stitch-up - in the same way as this toothless clause is stitching up veterans".
"There is a mandatory duty on the government to implement the military covenant.
pitifully in this respect and we are still seeing increasing numbers of veterans in prison - maybe as high as at one in nine of the prison population.
 "This was an opportunity to put veterans' welfare at the heart of the bill - one that has been badly missed."He added
: "I fear that this government is about to continue in this failure to our troops."

Plaid should concentrate  on the work n the work that Elfyn Llwyd  had led in Westminster  seeking to protect  those who have horrible physical and metal scars from their service in War to enhance the vanity of the likes of Tony Blair  who  wanted to be sen as World leader..


Cheered o by these politicians and and media as they marched taway many of the broken men and women who return are ignored . The above figuer that they make up One in Nine of the prison population is a disgrace.


I don't care where these servicemen are based in the UK I do care that when thier service is over they are not abandoned.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is an incomprehensible move from Plaic Cymru. These are Britain's soldiers, loyal to the English monarch and to the English parliament.

Are there any votes in this for Plaid? Maybe.

But there would also be votes in proposals to re-legalise face sitting, but I don't see Plaid chasing those.