Troops at mercy of clique

Treatment of the armed forces by this government plunges ever deeper into squalor.

When the question of allowances for troops was discussed recently, Tony Blair said the changes "would not take one penny from anybody".

He went on: "No one loses money and everyone gains money". Yet both Blair and Defence Secretary Des Browne had already been briefed by a senior official that "there will be potential losers under the new system".

The commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards then revealed that more than 500 of his men stood to lose £1,350 each.

What is it with these Blairites? Are they completely incapable of telling the truth?

I used to think that Geoff Hoon was as low as one could get as Defence Secretary. That was until Browne came along.

What exactly are the qualifications of this cocky Scottish lawyer to hold sway over the destiny of our fighting men? Easy. He is a protege of Gordon Brown and has imbibed the attitude of the anti-military clique at the Treasury. Heaven help our soldiers who are at the mercy of this lot.

For more than 20 years Islamic terrorists, many wanted in other countries, came to London, despite warnings from France, Egypt and Israel.

Their intelligence services spelt out the consequences in messages to MI5 but any advice was ignored - the excuse was that we had our hands full with the IRA. Britain is now paying a heavy penalty.

W A Davis, Hall Street East, Wednesbury.