The Thin Blue Line

As we look to the future and how the UK government spends its money, it may be worth while looking to the past.  How did we spend money then?  Why have things changed?

Fortunately, there is a wonderful web site that makes it possible to do just that.  It's called UK Public Spending and it tracks budgets (and lots of other interesting numbers) over the past 20 to 30 years.  I looked at it the other day when I was wondering about where it made most sense to make cuts.

Here's a chart I made, comparing spending on Defence with spending on Health.  In 1990, for every £100 we spent on Health, we spent about £80 on Defence.  Today, for every £100 we spend on Health, we spend £20 on Defence.  To put it another way, in 1990 Defence represented 11.6% of the Budget and Health 16.6%: today, in the middle of the war in Afghanistan, Defence represents 6.7% of the Budget and Health 35.9%.

Here's a graph that shows it.  Blue is Defence, Green is NHS.  Click on the graph to see it in full size.  The bars show each department's funding as a proportion of the budget: the lines show each department's budget as a proportion of GDP.

So if you were looking for savings, where would you look?

The Man with the Melted Face

In the spring of 2008, I met a man with a melted face.

You probably think I am speaking metaphorically, but this is only partly true. To get an idea of what his face looked like, imagine it a copy of the original was made by Madame Tussauds waxworks and heat was applied. That's how his face looked except what had happened had affected a real face not a wax one. I think it's probably impossible to imagine the agony he must have endured to real his skin and flesh and blood.

He was a British soldier and he and I and another 40 people were guests at the launch of a fund-raising programme, Music on Fire. One of the stars of the show, Hayley Westonra, was at the launch and met and spoke to the soldier, as well as others who had been wounded in the course of duty. To her immense credit, she smiled and did not flinch when introduced and seeing his horrific injuries for the first time.

We can't do much for those soldiers who have lost their lives, other than to remember them with respect and support their families. For those who return grievously wounded, we ought to do our utmost to care for them. I remain incensed at how little the Government does and I hope the next Government will fix this.

In the mean time, we can do more ourselves. The leading charities are, of course, quite happy to accept cash donations but in addition they also organise events at which you can have fun while raising funds.

Help for Heroes helps the servicemen and women wounded in Britain's current conflicts.

The Army Benevolent Fund regularly holds fundraising events, as do the RAF Benevolent Fund and the Royal Navy Benevolent Fund Trust.

Don't wait for the government and bureaucracy to act - do something yourself now and let the man with the melted face know he and others like him won't be forgotten.

Welcome home

The Royal Air Force squadrons of Chinook helicopters are based at Odiham. At any one time, a few hundred of the men and women in these squadrons are based overseas, most notably in Afghanistan. Conditions there are tougher than most people can imagine; often they are extremely dangerous. This is implicitly recognised in news programs. So often when you see footage of the war, it's of helicopter pilots dropping off soldiers or collecting the wounded while being fired at. I've met a few of these men and women and they are uniquely courteous, professional and cheerful.

In June last year, Odiham invited the RAF to parade through the village. It was a mostly sunny day, and a happy one. I think many who attended were surprised at how uplifting an occasion it was. Plenty of the servicemen and women were smiling as they marched along. Certainly all of the public were.

They will be parading through again on the morning of Saturday 13th June. If you live nearby, come along and welcome them home!