News & Current Affairs
March 2024
Publication announcement: Mission Command and Leadership on Operations since 1991
Research Publications Centre for Army Leadership
Read the Research Paper here »
February 10th 2024
A letter to Rt Hon G Shapps MP Secretary of State for Defence
(A response will be published when available)
Dear Secretary of State,
As retired senior officers of the Crown with experience of command on operations, we feel compelled to write to you with a sense of sadness, incredulity and anger having viewed astonishing evidence of the depth and pervasiveness of the racist and intolerant "Diversity, Equality and Inclusivity" ideology being pushed within HM Armed Forces.
We see these facts, as so they are, as the perpetration of monumental self-harming and, as such, a real and present threat to national security that will give aid and comfort to the King's enemies. The sheer scale of what is reported is scarcely believable, and it cannot be ameliorated by small adjustments. It requires root and branch removal and we call upon you to order this, in pursuit of your primary duties to provide for the sure defence of our islands and citizens.
From Pole to Pole
By Jonathon Riley
The third in a series of books written by Lt-Gen Jonathon Riley on the life of Arctic explorer Quintin Riley.
Paperback | 360 pages
Illustrations | 100+ black and white photos and maps
Publication date | 17 Feb 2022
Publisher Golden Duck (UK) Ltd
Publication City/Country NR Chelmsford, United Kingdom
ISBN10 1899262504
ISBN13 9781899262502
Published by Golden Duck (U K) Ltd - Read more here »
Boris issued British Army warning amid 'disgraceful' Northern Ireland legacy prosecutions
PRIOR to the Government's decision on Wednesday to scrap prosecutions of veterans who served in Northern Ireland, a string of ex-Army figures expressed their disgust at the Government's behaviour throughout the scandal....
In a letter provided to Express.co.uk, a series of former servicemen attacked the Government for failing to solve the scandal of legacy prosecutions of British veterans for years and branded Boris Johnson as letting down heroes who were prepared to lay down their life for the country.
The letter was signed by Lieutenant-General Jonathon Riley, Commander British Forces Sierra Leone, Iraq and DCOM NATO forces Afghanistan; Major-General Julian Thompson, Commander 3 Commando Brigade, Falklands War; Major-General Tim Cross, Commander Theatre Troops, Iraq; Rear Admiral Roger Lane-Nott, Flag Officer Submarines and Colonel Richard Kemp, Commander British Provincial Reconstruction Team, Afghanistan
VfB Board questions the MoD’s recent preoccupation with ‘green’ issues.
On 5th May 2021 an article was published in the Daily Telegraph which has caused great concern to VfB Board Members. It reports that ACM Mike Wigston, the Chief of the Air Staff, intends to divert time and resources into developing so-called ‘carbon neutral’ fuels for the RAF. Likewise Army interest in battery electrification of armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) is reported. This announcement comes on the heels of an equally but differently extraordinary MoD report from the ‘climate change champion’ Lt Gen Richard Nugee....
Save our army! Four top generals band together to demand Boris Johnson calls a halt to troop cuts... as they warn that ploughing ahead will damage Britain's standing in the world
Speaking exclusively to the Mail, Lord Dannatt, Lord Richards, Lieutenant-General Jonathon Riley and Major-General Tim Cross say a reduction would damage Britain's relationship with the United States and our position in Nato. ...
Save our army! Four top generals band together to demand Boris Johnson calls a halt to troop cuts... as they warn that ploughing ahead will damage Britain's standing in the world
speaking exclusively to the Mail, Lord Dannatt, Lord Richards, Lieutenant-General Jonathon Riley and Major-General Tim Cross say a reduction would damage Britain's relationship with the United States and our position in Nato. ...
MPCT Welcome Air Marshall Sir Dusty Miller KBE
ONE of the military’s most senior figures has given his backing to an organisation which trains the next generation of recruits. Air Marshal Sir Dusty Miller KBE has agreed to become a patron of MPCT, which runs 35 military training colleges across England and Wales.
And the patronage will enable around 2000 young people a year to benefit from Sir Dusty’s unparalleled life and career experience.
PCT’s colleges use military training techniques to give those aged from 16-19 the practical and academic skills they need for civilian or military careers.
Along with training in physical fitness, the courses – whose instructors are all ex-British Armed Forces personnel – help learners achieve qualifications in English and Mathematics and become proficient at problem solving, public speaking, leadership and communication.
Like the majority of MPCT recruits, who join after taking their GCSEs, Sir Dusty left school after his O levels and became an RAF apprentice at the age of fifteen. He qualified as an airframe fitter, before being selected for commissioning and entry into flying training – heralding the start of an illustrious and highly decorated career with the RAF...
Military schoolboy nominated for top award
A pupil at a Midlands Military Preparation School has been nominated for a top award for his actions in a crisis.
Fifteen-year-old Elijah Rama, from Parkfields, Wolverhampton, was on his way home from school when he saw a taxi collide with an 11-year-old boy.
And, while other passers-by stopped to film the incident on their phones or stood watching in shock, Elijah rushed to the aid of the badly injured victim...
Robert F. Kennedy Jr: Why The COVID-19 Vaccine Should Be Avoided At All Cost
Critics warn about the risks of large-scale injury and other health-related consequences that could result from a largely untested vaccine that is suddenly injected into millions...
‘Masks are destroying the social fabric’
Lionel Shriver on the terrible cost of our illogical Covid restrictions.
2020 has been dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The UK is in its second national lockdown, the US will soon have a pro-lockdown president, and numerous other countries are under strict restrictions. Trials for a vaccine have produced promising results, but it will be some time before widespread inoculation can be achieved. With no immediate end in sight, masks, closures, working from home and bans on gathering are all becoming part of the New Normal.
Britain's government is exploiting fear to suit its actions, whether on Covid or terrorism
By
Simon Jenkins
The last refuge of the populist – the politics of fear – is being shamelessly deployed by both Priti Patel and Boris Johnson.
"The home secretary told me this week that I faced a terrorist threat that was “severe” and an incident that was “highly likely”. I should be “alert”, she said. What is the difference between likely and highly likely? Should I fear to leave home? Should I run for my life if I see a man with a backpack? Priti Patel also tells me to be “not alarmed”. So why does she try to scare me? Is she on the terrorists’ side?"
...With Covid-19, Boris Johnson, very reasonably, initially opposed a return to the blanket lockdown policy. But when his scientists had him in a corner last week he had to turn to fear to justify his U-turn. He threatened that “several thousand people a day would die” – 4,000 was widely quoted – if he did not proceed to a lockdown across England.
COVID-19 lockdowns are in lockstep with the ‘Great Reset’
By Mathew Maavak
In October 2019, a pandemic simulation exercise called Event 201 – a collaborative effort between Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, World Economic Forum, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – concluded that a hypothetical new coronavirus may end up killing at least 65 million people worldwide within 18 months of an outbreak.
When COVID-19 coincidentally emerged from Wuhan two months later, scientists were rushing to generate similar alarmist forecasts using a variety of questionable scientific models. Researchers from the Imperial College London, for instance, approximated death tolls of 500,000 (UK) and two million (USA) by October this year. To those following the metastasis of the global vaccine mania, the Imperial model was predictably “tidied up” with the help of Microsoft.