General threatens mutiny

I don't think you can blame him An awful lot of British troops lost their lives fighting the IRA.

Just exercising his right to free speech in a free and democratic country, is my first thought. Lots of people have wacky views and freely express them.

My second thought is to wonder if such a thing would be regarded as treasonable. Do generals and such like have to swear allegiance and if so what exactly does that allegiance entail?

I think they can resign depending on length of service etc, but they cannot strike.

I don't see any conection between the IRA and resignations

A coup is not free or democratic thatbags although talking about it is. It would certainly be treasonable to foment one.

I am surprised that the I published that without any name. Free speech is one thing, anonymous threats of mutiny/violence are another - and for all we know the unnamed general could just be a fourteen-year-old trying to get an inflammatory letter into the paper. If the general is that incensed by Corbyn he should enter the political arena himself, or lobby his MP about it.

Just seen your post Annie. I don't get the IRA reference either.

NO one reads my links.

But you do know what Corbyn and McDonnell said about how the British Government should honour the IRA terrorists?

I know what they are said to have said and what has been apologised for Jbf but whatever a politician has said in the past would not be an excuse for the generals turning the armed forces on the government seizing the running of the state - that is what a coup is and that is what this general appears to be suggesting.

Yes, their allegiance is to the Queen (not to the Prime Minister if he ever became that).

'Taking the Queen's Shilling'

Of course it just maybe a made up news story,. We know how the media has reacted to Corbyn, but if it isnt then the person behind the story should be on a charge

Is it half-term?

The military express allegiance to the monarch, not to a political party, so this threat of a coup is nonsense, or should be. Someone expressed the view elsewhere that the army should be able to root out and deal with this general, apparently there are only 100 generals in total so how difficult could it be? Isn't military intelligence supposed to be the best there is?

Mind you, if we are going into the realm of conspiracy theories, how influential IS the establishment exactly? The PM has already uttered warnings of threats to national security if JC should be returned to power.

There allegiance is to Queen and Country

Their!

Sorry Gracesgran I thought you and Annieb said you did not understand my reference to the IRA.

Having looked up the definitions of both mutiny and coup, they are not the same thing. Are they?

Refusing to obey orders is in no way the same thing as trying to seize power from the government, unless I am missing something.

The military are entitled to resign en masse I would have thought. I wouldnt have thought they have any desire to run a country.

The government is "Her Majesty's Government" which is why any attempt to seize power would be treason.

I also wonder if this is real.

More that any reference to the IRA didn't seem relevant as far as I was concerned Jbf although, for those who have believed all the hand picked quotes it may seem to be. A coup is a coup and it is treason.

Perhaps it is just said by someone who isnt even in the military.

I am surprised we have 100 generals.

Sorry again Gg. I thought you simply "didn't get" the IRA reference.

We get The I so I referred to the information provided in there.

However the Mail on Line reported:

"The senior serving general, speaking anonymously to the Sunday Times, said Mr Corbyn's victory has been greeted with 'wholesale dismay' in the army.

He added: 'There would be mass resignations at all levels and you would face the very real prospect of an event which would effectively be a mutiny.............

'The Army just wouldn't stand for it. The general staff would not allow a prime minister to jeopardise the security of this country and I think people would use whatever means possible, fair or foul to prevent that. You can't put a maverick in charge of a country's security.' "

There are always rumours like this whenever there is a hint of a leftwing government in the UK. In the 1960s there were tales that some generals wanted to activate a coup against the Wilson government, then there rumours of an MI5 plot to assassinate Tony Benn.

There will always be rumours about things said by (almost always anonymous) generals or 'senior officers'. It is our equivalent of conspiracy theorists.

General and Senior officers are no more immune than anybody else of saying some really silly things in the heat of the moment.

He isn't threatening a mutiny because Corbyn isn't PM. He is warning about what could happen in the future if the unlikely and unthinkable happened.