Scrap Red Arrows says MP.

[xxMATTGxx]

Scrap Red Arrows, says Plaid Cymru MP Jonathan Edwards

An MP has called for the Red Arrows air display team to be disbanded and money spent instead on equipment for troops.

Jonathan Edwards, Plaid Cymru MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, said the RAF unit cost taxpayers £8.8m a year.

He said: "Personally I think it is money that could be put to better use."

A spokesman for the RAF in Wales said the Red Arrows were a "flag-waver" and no comment could be made until the outcome of the ongoing defence review.

After asking a parliamentary question, Mr Edwards was told the Red Arrows provide "no direct operational role".

Plaid Cymru put in a Freedom of Information request to discover the display team's running costs.

Mr Edwards said: "We have to get realistic about public expenditure. I find the priorities of this government totally bizarre.

"I fail to see how cutting front line service, for example the £34m that is being cut from Dyfed-Powys Police Authority which represents my constituency, can be done when millions is wasted elsewhere.

"I for one would rather see public money used to ensure that police remain on the beat."

He added that he failed to see why the Red Arrows should be excluded from the debate about public service cuts when "the Welsh budget is itself suffering a £162.5m hit".

The Red Arrows, based at Scampton in Lincolnshire, use Hawk T1 jets, the RAF's advanced trainer.

Advanced pilot training using Hawks is carried out at RAF Valley on Anglesey.

The base's No 4 Flying Training School operates about 70 Hawks.

A spokesman for the RAF in Wales said: "There will be speculation about display teams.
'Thousands cheered'

"We're in no position to comment at the moment, there are too many things being reviewed."

He said the Red Arrows were "of great value to the armed forces and British industry".

"We will have to wait until the government's strategic defence review is published. Then we will have a better vision of what the MoD has in mind."

The spokesman said thousands of people cheered when the Red Arrows performed at Rhyl on Sunday.

The Red Arrows have held more than 4,000 displays in 53 countries since being formed in 1965.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-10927410

http://mattgarner.net/upload/images/1281458936.png


What is everyone's views on this? I'm a big fan of the Red Arrows and the RAF and I think scrapping them would be a BIG no no.

[Luke]

Screw that Welsh MP. The Red Arrows are renound throughout the world as the best aerobatic team, it's one of the few things we have that make us proud to be british.
Just scrap the war; then we won't need equiptment..

[Jordan]

nooo, Im watching them in a couple of weeks, they're coming for a regatta D:

[Jahova]

Don't scrap them but he does have a point. That's a lot of money for a display team.

[Nemo]

Yes they're very nice n all, but when you're trying to save money, then quite obviously stuff like this should be gone. Not forever, but just until we're out of all the crap we're in.

[alexxxxx]

it's quite a good marketing team.

[xxMATTGxx]

Yes they're very nice n all, but when you're trying to save money, then quite obviously stuff like this should be gone. Not forever, but just until we're out of all the crap we're in.

But how long is that going to be? It's not exactly going to be sorted within months.

[Nemo]

But how long is that going to be? It's not exactly going to be sorted within months.
Well however long its going to take, its like a tramp buyin a gold ring. Now hes got no money to eat but hes got something to shiny to look at!

By eat, i mean necessities

[MrPinkPanther]

I'm sure the MoD's recruitment advertising budget is many times as large as this. The "Red Arrows" are the perfect advertising group for the RAF. Keep them. £8 Million is nothing.

[Jordy]

lol I didn't expect anything else from a Welsh nationalist, none of them have any pride in the UK as a whole, of which the Red Arrows represent.

[Hecktix]

I quite agree that £8.8million is nothing and won't really cause much saving, it'll do more damage than saving. The are a sign of Britain and they should stay.

[Nalfar]

What's the profit margin on their appearences?

If it's not good enough then like everything else it has to have cuts. We're in a time of financial stress and things like this aren't needed.

[Jordy]

What's the profit margin on their appearences?

If it's not good enough then like everything else it has to have cuts. We're in a time of financial stress and things like this aren't needed.There is no profit margin as they're not paid for their appearances. You don't apply profit margins to the military, education and healthcare anyway, the Red Arrows are very much part of the military.

[xxMATTGxx]

Some of the reasons why we have them:



The Red Arrows are the public face of the Royal Air Force and are acknowledged as one of the world’s premier aerobatic teams. Within the UK, the Red Arrows exist to demonstrate the professional excellence of the Royal Air Force and promote recruitment to the Royal Air Force. The Red Arrows have inspired a significant number of people to join the Royal Air Force, both as officers and airmen in all trades, not just pilots!

The Team supports wider British interests overseas by contributing to Defence Diplomacy efforts and promoting British industry. The Hawk aircraft flown by the Team and most of its components are all British made. During international tours the Red Arrows demonstrate both British skill and British technology to millions of people.

The Red Arrows also help more than 500 UK charities every year - contributing many thousands of pounds to a wide variety of important causes.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Maybe the Welsh MP should look closer to home where his own country Wales is funded by the English taxpayer (and the same goes for Scotland & Northern Ireland). I am all for the United Kingdom but it must be fair and works only as long as the countries that make it up want to remain a part of it which seems the case at the moment. The military budget should be increased (especially the Navy and Airforce). I hate spending public money, but money spent in the military is money well spent in my view.

[Pyroka]

nooo, Im watching them in a couple of weeks, they're coming for a regatta D:

omg which regatta? i know theyre doing dawlish carnival....

and yeah hell to this i like red arrows they do some entertainin stuff. getting rid of them is just pure silly i mean i believe in budgets and all but thats peoples jobs, yknow? and it doesnt do THAT much good.

hey i know lets cut MP's pay!!!

[Jordan]

omg which regatta? i know theyre doing dawlish carnival....

and yeah hell to this i like red arrows they do some entertainin stuff. getting rid of them is just pure silly i mean i believe in budgets and all but thats peoples jobs, yknow? and it doesnt do THAT much good.

hey i know lets cut MP's pay!!!

One in cornwall lmao

[Circadia]

NO you cant MPs you cant They were amazing on sunday at Blackpool air show D; they were the best bit !

[dbgtz]

I think the guy saying about the profit bringing in is airshows, alot of people will go just for red arrows imo therefore in the end itll probably all add up to be more then £8.8 million
but yeah considering we get like hundreds of billions yearly its not really much.

And besides scrapping it so we fund more war crap we dont actually see any benefit of really i dont think so.

[GommeInc]

And the income that the Red Arrows make is...? Seems missed out of the equation, I bet they rake in alot of money seeing as they're star attractions for air shows. Disbanding good traditions and attractions isn't going to save money, it just makes the UK an unattractive place. Besides, they're not Welsh so nobody cares what he says anyway :P

[xxMATTGxx]

And the income that the Red Arrows make is...? Seems missed out of the equation, I bet they rake in alot of money seeing as they're star attractions for air shows. Disbanding good traditions and attractions isn't going to save money, it just makes the UK an unattractive place. Besides, they're not Welsh so nobody cares what he says anyway :P

They also have sponsors!

[Catzsy]

Yes considering they spend at least 15 million propping up a dying language and 100 mil for S4C (the welsh channel4) which has 10,000 viewers maximum it is a travesty. Luckily it will never happen.

[Dinosaurawrr]

We don't have much british things anymore as there all being taken away.
This won't save much and people love it theres no point taking it away.
I personall think it should stay.

[GommeInc]

They also have sponsors!
Exactly. What we should do, and it's a very reasonable proposition, is to just go to war with the Welsh and tell them their only talents are with singers in the X Factor. Other than that, they have no purpose on this here planet :P And by war, I mean just enter there, slap 'em and tell them to shut up.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Yes considering they spend at least 15 million propping up a dying language and 100 mil for S4C (the welsh channel4) which has 10,000 viewers maximum it is a travesty. Luckily it will never happen.

We [England] spend*

I agree their language should be preserved, but not at the cost to the English taxpayer.

[Alkaz]

I'm sure thinks such as the Olympic Official lanes through London etc will cost millions and millions of pounds, what about scraping that and letting them use normal lanes as if London won't be even more congested during the Olympics, that could save some money as well but I guess we have to let them get around in style whilst the rest of us have to suffer and wait in congested single lane main roads in London. That's pointless for a XX week event but I mean we need that 8-).

[Recursion]

I'm gunna get flamed for this but...

He has a point, any money the govt can save to pay debts off, we should. I'm not saying scrap them, just put the team on "hold" until we're out the ****ter.

On the other hand, it should say, as someone rightly mentioned, out country is becoming detached from the British culture thanks to the way Labour screwed things up.

[Apolva]

I'm gunna get flamed for this but...

He has a point, any money the govt can save to pay debts off, we should. I'm not saying scrap them, just put the team on "hold" until we're out the ****ter.

On the other hand, it should say, as someone rightly mentioned, out country is becoming detached from the British culture thanks to the way Labour screwed things up.

I agree with this.

[Catzsy]

We [England] spend*

I agree their language should be preserved, but not at the cost to the English taxpayer.

Sorry, Dan, there are millions of taxpayers in the rest of the UK too so essentially it is the UK and not just England.
The majority of people living in Wales disagree with it too.

[Sarah]

Sorry, Dan, there are millions of taxpayers in the rest of the UK too so essentially it is the UK and not just England.
The majority of people living in Wales disagree with it too.

I certainly don't? I love the comments are we are wasting money on S4C - what about BBC Alba? The Scottish Gaelic channel? I doubt that has a lot of viewers. I think S4C is vital to the preservation of our language. I don't agree with the MP's comment regarding the Red Arrows however.

[Dean]

They should scrap it. Every little helps towards getting us out the recession.

[wiktoria]

I agree with Dean I think they should scrap it because they spend too much money on it.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Sorry, Dan, there are millions of taxpayers in the rest of the UK too so essentially it is the UK and not just England.
The majority of people living in Wales disagree with it too.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are all subsidised by the English taxpayer with the Barnett formula - meaning that although you all pay taxes, you are all being subidised by other taxpayers to keep afloat massive public sectors of which we cannot afford. If the Welsh people have no desire to keep afloat their own language with their own money then thats not a problem to me - so long as the English taxpayer isn't being forced into even more subsidisation.

I'm a supporter of the United Kingdom and count myself as British rather than English, but the Union has to work fairly.

[xxMATTGxx]

They should scrap it. Every little helps towards getting us out the recession.

Late reply and all that. So let's scrap everything yeah? May as well start charging everyone health care. Seriously, it's not all funded by the tax payer.