大象传媒

For the 7,000+ people that marched in Moray this week, it was not a case of RAF Lossiemouth versus RAF Marham. It was about protecting our economy and people in the North of Scotland, saving our base, fighting for our own cause. I think it's appalling that this has been reported as a battle between the two bases.

Also, this idea of a "Scottish mafia" is DISGUSTING!!! To compare the Scots to criminals is awful and so very shameful, especially for an MP to state this. ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING! How a rascist remark such as this makes it into the news is a complete shocker.

This whole article is little more than a political smokescreen. If Lossimouth remains open Marham will not close. There are too many assets staged at Marham for them to go anywhere else, the Losiemouth Jets would probably be 鈥渕othballed鈥� and only the personnel would actually go to Marham.
The big issue is the fact that the Strategic review fell far short of delivering a balanced defence force. Aircraft carriers with no aircraft. An Island nation with no maritime reconnaissance ability is the thin end of the wedge of blunders made. Marham will stay as it is fully populated with squadrons and of course it has the strategic position to provide Air defence over the south of the country its staying open was never in doubt except as scare tactics generated by the government to muddy the waters anyone with the ability to think for themselves should be able to see this. Lossiemouth and Kinloss between them held the defence of the entire North of Britain and protected the oil fields and prevented Russian submarines from entering British costal waters the removal of these two stations leaves the back door to Britain wide open.
The Questions that people should be asking is
1. Why did the Nimrod get scrapped when the government has paid for 9 of them and the first five years servicing contract?
2. Why are the Air force closing airbases when they are having to put up personnel in Travel lodges because they don鈥檛 have the accommodation or space on the ones they are keeping ?(Ask at RAF Odiham)
3. Why Is the MOD so driven to put all its eggs in one basket? All transport aircraft to Brize Norton, All tornados to Marham (It鈥檚 a Terrorists dream)
4. Is it true that the government鈥檚 motivation to close the two bases in Moray was driven by the way the people of the area vote?
5. Is it true that RAF Luchars was only kept because there is a n Air ommodore there who likes to play golf with his high ranking friends at St Andrews.
As for the comments of 鈥淪cottish Mafia鈥� I personally find it highly offensive bordering on racism. I was at the march to save Lossiemouth, I was born in England along with many of my friends in the area. Just like the rest of the country Moray has a mixture of people from every area and race, when someone brushes off people of fighting for their community and their livelihoods as being a 鈥淪cottish Mafia鈥� they just show their own monumental ignorance.

The opening sentence in this blog is completely without substance! No facts or figures are given to back any claims that RAF Marham is the better option in economic or strategic terms; they appear to be the mutterings of a Tory MP who has just wakened up to the fact that she has a fight on her hands.

Both bases offer strategic benefits, however, it is Lossiemouth that holds more of the cards as pointed out by all the ex RAF personnel I have met and spoken with. Incidentally, Ms Truss says that according to all the Serving RAF personnel that she has spoken to, Marham is the better option. How can it be that these people can speak to here on defence issues, yet personnel at Lossiemouth have been threatened with confinement in the MCTC prison at Colchester if they get involved?

"Never underestimate the power of the Scottish mafia," says one Norfolk MP."

This is typical of Tory MP's from south of the border, the statement is both contrived and racist.

The campaign in Moray was actually started by a serviceman鈥檚 wife, not by a political figure or party. However, it has gained cross party support in Hollyrood, including Ms Truss's Tory colleague Anabelle Goldie, who has stated she will fight hard for the retention of RAF Lossiemouth.

"I hope politics will not trump economics on this issue" - So do the people of Moray Ms Truss. We have produced the documentary evidence of how hard this area will be hit economically by the closure of the two RAF bases, the figures speak for themselves and of course when it comes to high politics, I would say that Ms Truss has the advantage, with Norfolk being a Tory stronghold!

The depth servicing was moved to RAF Marham as a result of the last SDR. At the time there was not a single serviceman at Lossiemouth who did not think that this was both a serious error of judgement and also an indicator of things to come. The infrastructure for depth maintenance at Lossiemouth is more than likely still there, therefore moving it back would be no great feat, either logistically, or financially, plus, we too have the skill set in Moray to carry out all required tasks, therefore this is no argument in favour of Marham.

Our campaign in Moray is all about real people and real jobs; I find that it is typical of Tory arrogance that Ms Truss has taken it as a done deal that Marham will stay open instead of Lossiemouth and also that she has totally disregarded our Facebook campaign which has over 13,000 ordinary followers, (not politicians), a total may I add which is on the increase daily. Instead, she plays the political game of trying to divide opinion and make this a 鈥淭hem against us鈥� situation. There are no winners in the SDR and I speak for the whole of Moray when I say that we do not want to see the closure of any RAF base, including RAF Marham, however, our community will fight tooth and nail to keep our base open, such is its importance to our area both in economic terms and in social terms, as it is woven into the very fabric of our community.

"And the fighter base can get to London more quickly in the event of a major emergency and reach the Middle Eastern forward operating bases without refuelling."

Do you actually know anything about RAF Marham? The aircraft based there are the GR4 variant of the Tornado. It's a ground attack aircraft. What is it supposed to do when it gets to London? Bomb students that have taken over Conservative party HQ? Air cover for London is provided by Typhoons based at RAF Coningsby. As for the comment about not refuelling to get the Middle East, there is no way it can get there without refuelling. It needs to refuel at least twice (via RAF Akrotiri and another place)to get to, say Afghanistan, where that variant is operating.

I find the whole question of Marham v. Lossiemouth depressing, along with several of the other issues thrown up by this 'Strategic' Defence Review. However, whatever the solution arrived at, I hope that it will be the most sensible, taking all relevant factors into account. Meanwhile, although I, too, would not wish to raise the spectre of a 'Scots Mafia', what does fill me, as someone who identifies more closely with East Anglia, with foreboding is the fact that those arguing in favour of Lossiemouth seem to attract automatic national news coverage, but those putting the case for Marham merit a place only in the local news segment. Why this disparity?

Simon, many thanks for your comment. It is fine to see a comment being posted which is balanced and asks a serious question. You are indeed quite right to ask this. However, rather than the Tory political elite, who seem to find a twisted pleasure in inciting anger, by coming out with racially motivated comments, one should be looking at the facts.......Total population of Norfolk = 850,000 RAF Marham is circa 6,000 thats 0.7% of the population. Moray 85000 RAF Lossiemouth Circa 6,000 that鈥檚 7% - 10 times that of Norfolk. Taking into account Kinloss too we are talking maybe 12% of the population which are directly involved with the RAF! These numbers cannot be disguised, they are the absolute facts. The bottom line is that the closure of TWO RAF bases within a community this small will devastate it. So of course this makes National news in Scotland! It means so much to the people up here. Incidentally, the Norfolk community probably never heard anything about this until recently because their political representatives were being told that there is no issue....That this was all pretty much a done deal!! These figures indicate direct employment; of course the true effect on this community will be so much worse! I hope this answers your question!

wull66, I'm afraid you've misinterpreted my comment. The nation I belong to first and foremost is the UK, not England or Scotland. The basic numeric/percentage comparisons you quote, while, no doubt, starkly relevant to the individuals in line to be impacted, are too simplistic. East Anglia has long had a close connection with the RAF and has seen recent air base closures (e.g. Coltishall) too. Everything that I've heard/read so far indicates that there is at least as good a case to be made in favour of Marham as there is for Lossiemouth. That being so, a cynic might regard the waving of the Saltire in such a situation as a means of guaranteeing national (i.e. U.K.) news reporting on behalf of the latter while the former is covered, although the support is no less passionate, at the regional level only. As I wrote previously, I want the most sensible solution to come out of this process but not for it to be influenced/skewed by the nature of the media coverage.

Simon, first of all, I don't believe that I have misinterpreted your comment at all. Neither did I suggest that you were anything other than a UK citizen. The facts I highlighted were deliberately succinct but no less important. However, the full economic impact of the closure of Lossiemouth on the Moray community has indeed been laid out in much greater detail and is publicly available online, something which I have yet to see from the business community in East Anglia.
You say that everything you have heard indicates as much in favour of retaining Marham as it does Lossiemouth, however, I disagree entirely and until I see the bare facts laid out in front of me allowing me to make a formed decision to the contrary, I will continue to believe that there is no question that Lossiemouth is the much better option, both economically and strategically. As far as the waving of the Saltire bit is concerned, I'm afraid that you are in danger like most folk south of the border, of believing the hype from the English media and of course English MP's who appear to use racist remarks and knee jerk claims of jingoism when things don't appear to be going their way.
Were you aware of the fact that the whole Save RAF Lossiemouth campaign was started and continues to be spearheaded by a single English serviceman鈥檚 wife, a very ordinary lady who is passionate about her community?
The political elite were always going to become involved due to the importance of the issue and the campaign has indeed gained cross party, including Tory, support. Contrary to this, the "Make it Marham" campaign, suggests a 鈥渢hem or us鈥� attitude and from what I can see has been started up by a Council PR guy probably at the bequest of the local Tory MP. So you see, please don't contrive to believe everything that the media throws up, this was never a Scots against the English issue and its not about flag waving, it is about ordinary folk, both service and civilian, doing what they can to save their community from suffering economic disaster. I understand that Norfolk has lost bases already, but so have we in the North East of Scotland, therefore that alone is no argument to keep Marham open. Saving both bases from closure would be the best result all-round and I can guarantee that if this were the outcome there would be none cheering louder than the folk of Moray. It鈥檚 just such a pity that the political representatives of Norfolk don鈥檛 appear to hold the same views.