Wes Streeting announces we have 1,000 days to prepare for war.

I'm sorry you are past caring, FGT, for there are a whole raft of needful changes........like improving hospital waiting lists and A and E and so on..like the drought that brought to so much awareness the need to tackle climate change as well as prison numbers....like caring support for huge numbers of the public....

We get what we pay for, once proper management is in place for these services and so on.

MT62

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Also, a thought. Nothing like broadcasting how weak and ill prepared we actually are right now.

Yep 👍🏻

As if those against us nation wise didnt know? As if those who follow the news anyway didnt know

The O/P is revealed as being conflation by Graphite's post at 9.53 am above.

Of course the public need to know: its the budget this week, if we are going to be asked for more money tax wise (and its looking at the very rich as well as a bit from us all) for defences

how will the public understand this budget without information

* they have

Peacelilydilly

Its like musical chairs with the Labour Party, Wes Streeting Health Secretary one minute then in charge of Defence. John Healey Defence now Chancellor. God help us. Why can't we have politicians who actually have know what they are doing and have real experience in their brief.

That’s exactly what it’s like in EVERY political party in the UK, not just the LP!

I agree though that only those with some experience in their areas should go into those roles, however one could argue that they are not “lone warriors”, they extremely experienced, knowledgable and skilled senior civil servants and personal advisors supporting them.

Practical experience of a professional won’t give anyone the necessary of skills to be a Minister
I disagree. My uncle was a physician and Minister for Health. He pushed for the UK to produce its own blood products domestically to eliminate reliance on imported blood and reduce public health risks. And several other achievements related to his medical training.

Good point MollyNew....

Most of the current government are from working class or middle class backgrounds so will have an experience of the "real world". Most of the previous Conservative government were privately educated from the upper middle class and Reform UK is run by millionaires.

Ah! The allegedly left-leaning Gransnet and an excuse to bash a right wing Labour MP writing in a Tory newspaper.

A new Prime Minister choses their own cabinet ministers. Completely unheard of in the history of government!

Streeting resigned as Health Secretary as a pre-emptive strike as part of the coup against Starmer. Reeves was much maligned as Chancellor. It was inevitable there would be change. What Healey, who resigned over defence spending and is now Chancellor will do about that, we shall soon find out.

Shall we take a look at the ministerial churn in 14 years of the previous government?

2010-2024

Health Secretaries - eight in 14 years.

Andrew Lansley (2010 – 2012)

Jeremy Hunt (2012 - 2018) Responsible for the UK’s unpreparedness for the pandemic by ignoring the findings if Operation Cygnet.

Matt Hancock (2018 - 2021)

Sajid Javid (2021 – 2022)

Steve Barclay (2022 – 2022)

Thérèse Coffey (2022 – 2022)

Steve Barclay (2022 - 2023)

Victoria Atkins (2023 – 2024)

Defence Secretaries - seven in 14 years.

Liam Fox (2010–2011)

Philip Hammond (2011–2014)

Michael Fallon (2014–2017)

Gavin Williamson (2017–2019)

Penny Mordaunt (2019 -2019)

Ben Wallace (2019–2023)

Grant Shapps (2023–2024)

To my knowledge, Ben Wallace was the only Minister with any practical experience of the military but he neither served for very long nor was particularly senior.

Practical experience of a professional won’t give anyone the necessary of skills to be a Minister, no more than being a nurse would make someone a good Health Secretary or a bookkeeper a good Chancellor.

And just to throw this in for the Reform fans. If we were to have a snap election and Reform won, who would Farage appoint to those positions? His party doesn’t even have official spokespersons or polices for those ministries.

nanna8 I think in the Labour most are and have no experience of the real world. Failing their briefs but promoted up to fail again.

Sorry for the profanity but I think most politicians,including him, are tossers. More and more so as the years go by.

MawsRosie

I used to quite like Wes Streeting when he was a gay scholarship lad from a Council estate trying to take on the social, academic and political prejudices he encountered .
Now I think he’s what they call a busted flush- trying to sound deep and meaningful, who thinks it’s big to be a pessimist, to sell us out without a shred of national pride or spirit.
An inspirational Defence Secretary he is not not, nor even IMO a safe pair of hands

Never been a fan but I thought he - and Tom Tugenhat (spelling? - was excellent on Wuestion Time 🤷‍♀️

TerriBull

1000 days is a long time. Having said that, it's clear defence is crying out for more money to be directed into their coffers. For God's sake, support the people who need it, but stop handing out money to young people who have been diagnosed with ADHD for example, it's not a reason not to work, something's got to give to rearrange the country's finances, I wish that would be a starting point. In certain cases those on benefits have more disposable income than minimum wage workers. That cannot be right! The whole benefit system needs to be overhauled. Most importantly, we need to give more support to our farmers, out and about I often come across their signs to that effect.

That will give us enough time to stock up on the baked beans. Two per week 🤔

I know how can these politicians flip flop from one position to another.
I would be giving that job to the most experienced for sure.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Also, a thought. Nothing like broadcasting how weak and ill prepared we actually are right now.

Yep 👍🏻

Don’t tell him Pike!
We’re all being softened up for Russian cyber attacks and higher defence spending.

They don't need to have experience as they are, or should be, briefed by advisers, senior civil servants, in this case the Heads of the Armed Forces.

However, having a Defence Minister with some inkling of the problems the Armed Forces and Security Services face would help.

Peacelilydilly

Its like musical chairs with the Labour Party, Wes Streeting Health Secretary one minute then in charge of Defence. John Healey Defence now Chancellor. God help us. Why can't we have politicians who actually have know what they are doing and have real experience in their brief.

👏👏👏👏👏

Surely warfare is aggression though, not defence? I don’t think he meant defence spending wouldn’t be increased.

Burnham’s comment on “ welfare before warfare” indicates that it’s unlikely to change under his government.

Don't worry, Wes, the Head of the Armed Forces and others who have great deal of experience, are aware of the threats but are quietly preparing. They just need the funds. We all know this.

Absolutely this!

1000 days is a long time. Having said that, it's clear defence is crying out for more money to be directed into their coffers. For God's sake, support the people who need it, but stop handing out money to young people who have been diagnosed with ADHD for example, it's not a reason not to work, something's got to give to rearrange the country's finances, I wish that would be a starting point. In certain cases those on benefits have more disposable income than minimum wage workers. That cannot be right! The whole benefit system needs to be overhauled. Most importantly, we need to give more support to our farmers, out and about I often come across their signs to that effect.

Wes Streeting was never a Boy Scout, otherwise he would know that we should always Be Prepared.

Don't worry, Wes, the Head of the Armed Forces and others who have great deal of experience, are aware of the threats but are quietly preparing. They just need the funds. We all know this.

Children were affected enough by the threats and school closures during Covid and now he frightens them with this announcement!

With Streeting in charge, very likely.

If something doesn’t happen soon to mitigate the effects of the wars already taking place and the potential for escalation, I think he is being optimistic. As a country we have been more than dilatory about our security in the past fifty years, we have been neglectful, and we have to catch up quickly.

1000 days is a very long time in World Politics.
I would love a quick peek at Mr Streeting's crystal ball.