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| Subject: The Scotsman: At last, the Royal Family's anger over cuts is revealed | |
Author: Bruce (Canada) | [ Next Thread |
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] Date Posted: 12:01:09 10/31/04 Sun At last, the Royal Family's anger over cuts is revealed GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN AND ANGIE BROWN Former employee of the Queen Mother tells of secret frustration felt in Buckingham Palace WHEN Geoff Hoon stood up to tell the House of Commons that he was planning to disband one of the Scottish infantry regiments, he was taking on not just the military and their supporters but also the Royal Family. The Royal Family has a long and treasured association with the Scottish regiments, which they hold in the highest regard. The Queen Mother was immensely fond of the Black Watch; she remained the Colonel in Chief of the regiment until her death in 2002, and referred to them as "my boys". But if the cuts do go ahead, they will have a direct effect on the Queen and the four other most senior members of the royal family, who are all colonels in chief of Scottish regiments. The Queen is Colonel in Chief of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Prince Charles now has the Black Watch, Prince Philip the Highlanders, Princess Anne the Royal Scots and Prince Andrew the Royal Highland Fusiliers. Princess Alice of Gloucester is colonel in chief of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers. If the regiments are absorbed into one Scottish super regiment, those roles are set to disappear and there will be room for just one colonel in chief of the new regiment. The Queen is required to approve whatever decision the government reaches, and there can be no question of her withholding the royal assent. But it will come as no surprise to anyone who understands the depth of affection in the Royal Family for the army to learn that they are privately seething about the attack on the regiments. Now the depth of that anger is revealed. Unable to speak out publicly on such a sensitive political matter, members of the Royal Family have revealed their views in letters to a former employee, Audrey McCune, who worked as a housekeeper at the Queen Mother’s Birkhall House residence on Deeside. Ms McCune has endeavoured to respect the confidentiality of that correspondence and although she has taken on the role of treasurer in the Save The Scottish Regiments campaign, she made no attempt to publicise the Queen’s views. But approached by The Scotsman yesterday, and under direct questioning, she confirmed the existence of a number of letters of support from members of the Royal Family. Now working as the manager of a shooting estate in Perthshire, Ms McCune said: "I had letters from royalty from the top down saying they can’t go public because of the position that they are in, but that they totally disagree with what the government is doing," she said. "They believe that tradition and heritage would be wiped out if the Scottish regiments are not saved. I’ve had letters from royal connections who can’t speak out because of the political position and have asked me not to reveal their names." The correspondence began when Ms McCune, angered by the treatment of the Scottish regiments, fired off a series of letters to members of the Royal Family. "Obviously everyone in the letters is backing what we are doing here and I felt I had to do something because I worked for the Queen Mother," she said. "Royalty can’t step in because of the politics, which they feel frustrated about. They have sent me letters of support and to wish me luck." Asked what the royals had written, she replied: "Disappointment is one word that they used. They were disappointed with the government. They trashed the government and they are saying ‘What are the government thinking about?’ "They are all disgusted that there could be cutbacks because there needs to be infantry on the ground. A computer can’t capture the baddies. We need troops on the ground." And she said there was a feeling that the threat to the Black Watch would have particularly distressed the Queen Mother. "She would be absolutely devastated because she was the Colonel in Chief of the Black Watch. "I have had many letters from friends of hers saying she would have been turning in her grave right now. She would have been really upset," she said. Members of the Royal Family have personal experience of life in the Armed Services. As Princess Elizabeth, the Queen joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1945 and thus became the first female member of the Royal Family to be a full-time active member of the Armed Services. Many royal princes have received training in the services. And news of the royal support has delighted campaigners fighting the government’s plans to merge two of the Scottish infantry battalions and roll the rest up into one super regiment. Jeff Duncan, who has been leading the Save The Scottish Regiments campaign, said he was not surprised by the references to the Queen Mother. "The Queen Mum used to walk up and down the ranks [of the Black Watch] and say ‘And how are my boys today?’ They were her boys and they felt the same way about her and that relationship was so special," he said. And he said he believed that the government had deliberately waited until after the death of the Queen Mother before attempting to get rid of her favourite regiment. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| [> Subject: The Scotsman: Hoon vows to push through army changes | |
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Author: Bruce (Canada) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 12:16:49 10/31/04 Sun Hoon vows to push through army changes JAMES KIRKUP, GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN AND JOY COPLEY GEOFF Hoon today rejects growing public anger in Scotland and vows he will push through plans to amalgamate the country’s historic regiments. Writing in The Scotsman, the Defence Secretary says he understands concerns about the plans and offers some limited sweeteners. But he insists he will press on. Since the news of the Black Watch’s perilous mission in Iraq broke, hundreds of ordinary people have sent letters and e-mailed messages of support for The Scotsman’s campaign against the Ministry of Defence plans. Leading figures from the worlds of sport, politics, business and the arts have also come out against the amalgamation of the Black Watch and the other five Scots infantry regiments into a single multi- battalion national regiment. To join the campaign, fill in the form on the opposite page and send it in, or log on to The Scotsman’s website at www.thescotsman.co.uk/regiments. The five other infantry regiments threatened are: the Royal Highland Fusiliers, the King’s Own Scottish Borderers, the Royal Scots, the Highlanders and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Defence officials say the Royal Scots and the KOSB could be merged into a single unit and, in his article, Mr Hoon confirms that one of the six must cease to exist as an independent fighting unit. "As part of a move to a new army structure, we plan to reduce infantry battalions in Scotland from six to five," Mr Hoon writes, arguing that his plans will lead to a more modern, flexible army. Still, Mr Hoon is ready to make some concessions to growing public anger over the proposed amalgamations. Among the sweeteners on offer is the prospect of all of Scotland’s remaining infantry units being permanently based in Scotland. Such a move would require major construction work to provide all the troops with home barracks, but senior defence officials said they were willing to consider that as a goodwill gesture towards Scotland. Stung by the outpouring of anger over the amalgamation plan, defence sources said ministers and officials were seeking a way of preserving some aspects of all six regiments’ identities - cap badges, tartans and other trappings - within the five-battalion structure. "I want the army to retain as far as possible regimental traditions and local identities within the new, larger organisations," Mr Hoon writes, without going into detail. The Army Board yesterday met to discuss how best to implement the government’s decision to cut the number of UK infantry regiments from 30 to 26. The final decision over the restructuring rests with ministers and is expected before Christmas. This week, Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, and Alistair Darling, the Scottish Secretary, hinted at concessions over preserving regimental traditions, apparently hoping to portray the final decision as a form of compromise. But neither their warm words nor Mr Hoon’s assurances seem likely to assuage public anger. Campaigners say they will settle for nothing less than a guarantee that the Scots units will continue to exist as full regiments. In a sign that the political controversy over the government’s defence plans is growing, Mr Blair was assailed over the issue in the House of Commons yesterday. Michael Howard, the Conservative leader, condemned the government’s plans, telling Mr Blair: "In a dangerous world we need stronger forces." Clearly under pressure, Mr Blair repeated an assurance that there would be no reductions in the size of the British Army. "Overall, the numbers of people in our armed forces is not going to be reduced." he said. But the MoD last night admitted that statement was incorrect. According to the chief of the general staff, General Sir Mike Jackson, the cuts mean that the army will be reduced in size by a total of 6,000 posts. It is already significantly under-strength after a recruitment freeze - at only about 103,500 of the establishment strength of 108,000. The cuts will reduce troop numbers to 102,000, an actual drop of 1,500 soldiers. An MoD spokesman later explained that Mr Blair was referring to the overall size of the army, and said that the Prime Minister was "technically correct" that the size of the army would remain the same in the immediate future. But he admitted that Mr Howard was correct to say that the intention was to reduce the number of troops to the target figure of 102,000. "Eventually the numbers will fall," the spokesman said. In a separate challenge to the government, it emerged last night that many of the Black Watch who are putting their lives at risk in Iraq may be unable to vote in the next general election. There has been a staggering 90 per cent fall in the number of Scottish service personnel registering to vote since a requirement to sign up annually was introduced in the Representation of the People Act 2000. In 1999 the number of armed forces voters registered for UK elections in Scotland was 18,686. Now, it is only 2,100. Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP who uncovered the figures, said they displayed the government’s "thoughtless and insensitive" attitude towards the armed forces. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> Subject: "The British army will fight to the last Scotsman" (old saying) nt | |
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Author: We are not "Cannon Fodder". [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 16:32:22 10/31/04 Sun a [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |