I'm finally going to go in a few weeks, I don't drink anymore and the wife frowns on my fornicating so I guess I'll just have to sleep.

BD - no worries; just thought I'd make the observation :)

We lived in 'ole int ground when I went to University......... ........... in fact twernt even a university at all............... it wer only a UNI and twas int Cardiff and no bugger int right mind would go to Cardiff even int daylight even if given a free bus pass......... bus pass, pah luxury, we had to get up 6am int morning to feed orse, then built cart......... :) (apologies gentleman, rather a fine evening out I'm afraid :doh: )

A dissenting voce here; politicians are elected from the people, and are no different from the rest of the population for the most part. Blaming them is easy, but the reality is that people want "the quick fix", and politicians tend to be punished for making unpopular decisions, no matter how correct that decision may be. And being as human (i.e. imperfect) as the rest of the electorate, most may well not want to risk their careers for decisions that may well not be implemented after they are then forced to leave office anyway. But that aside, it seems to me that the UK economy doesn't seem to be be robust enough to underwrite any significant military actions overseas- period- at this time, and the really tough decision must surely be whether the nation can afford to take the active roles in power projection that it once could. At least, given rising healthcare and pension costs, the UK needs to decide what its priorities are. It may be that retreating from the international stage for a time, and focussing on rebuilding the economy instead, may in fact be the better long term strategy. My own belief is that this is an issue that the US may itself be facing in fifty years time, but that is another topic.