Macavity Returns
Former Prime Minister - Gordon Brown - made his long awaited 'return' speech in the House of Commons last night.
Since losing the general election six months ago - he has been busy writing a book on the 'financial crisis' - and has been seldom seen at Westminster.
The purpose of his speech was to support the re-fitting of our two new aircraft carriers in Rosyth - which is more or less in Gordon Brown's backyard.
But I can't honestly say that GB's contribution was worth waiting for - his argument, put simply, was that Britain should continue with its 500 year old tradition of the Royal Navy being able to intervene around the globe.
What this means in a modern world was not made at all clear - the Falklands received a mention, but spending £5.2 billion on defending some rocky outcrop halfway round the world - doesn't seem great value for money.
And we'll also have to ask the Argentines to be nice enough not to invade until at least 2019 - because that's the earliest date we'll be able to put modern fighter aircraft on our HMS White Elephants I and II.
Once upon a time, the Labour party raged against these 'vanity' defence projects - and stood for spending public money on services that actually improve the quality of people's lives.
Yet now we have the extraordinary spectacle of a former Labour Prime Minister telling us that the country's defence requires not just one aircraft carrier - but two.
The argument is truly ridiculous and since the contracts were first signed - another £500 million has been added to the original cost of £5.2 billion.
Since losing the general election six months ago - he has been busy writing a book on the 'financial crisis' - and has been seldom seen at Westminster.
The purpose of his speech was to support the re-fitting of our two new aircraft carriers in Rosyth - which is more or less in Gordon Brown's backyard.
But I can't honestly say that GB's contribution was worth waiting for - his argument, put simply, was that Britain should continue with its 500 year old tradition of the Royal Navy being able to intervene around the globe.
What this means in a modern world was not made at all clear - the Falklands received a mention, but spending £5.2 billion on defending some rocky outcrop halfway round the world - doesn't seem great value for money.
And we'll also have to ask the Argentines to be nice enough not to invade until at least 2019 - because that's the earliest date we'll be able to put modern fighter aircraft on our HMS White Elephants I and II.
Once upon a time, the Labour party raged against these 'vanity' defence projects - and stood for spending public money on services that actually improve the quality of people's lives.
Yet now we have the extraordinary spectacle of a former Labour Prime Minister telling us that the country's defence requires not just one aircraft carrier - but two.
The argument is truly ridiculous and since the contracts were first signed - another £500 million has been added to the original cost of £5.2 billion.
